










Vv 
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PRACTICAL HANDBOOK 


FOR 


THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


INCLU DING 


BIBLICAL GEOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES, INTRODUCTIONS 
TO THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, 
AND HERMENEUTICS <i) OF RINGES 


ee 16 1926 


Ss q 
By Logica sew 
Tur Rev. MICHAEL’ SEISENBERGER. D.D. 







NEW REVISED EDITION 


NEW YORK 
JOSEPH F. WAGNER, Inc 
1925 


Wibil Obstat: 
ARTHUR J. SCANLAN, S.T.D. 


Censor Librorum 


AWmprimatur: 


+ PATRICK CARDINAL HAYES 
Archbishop, New York 


NEw YorK, SEPTEMBER 26, 1925 


First CopyriGHT, 1911, BY JosEpH F. WAGNER, NEw York 
SECOND COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY JOSEPH F. WAGNER, NEw York 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


PREFACE 


Dr. Seisenberger’s work here translated from the German, 
provides a bird’s-eye view of the biblical question from the 
Catholic standpoint, suitable to the exigencies of the present day. 
It is a handbook for the hard-worked parochial clergy and an 
introduction for the seminary student. Yet, although it is 
merely a synopsis, it is enriched on every page with ample refer- 
ences to the more specialized works—a detailed list of which is 
appended to the book—so that the reader who wishes to pursue 
any given subject more deeply has the material at hand without 
further search. 

The treatment in the book itself, however, will be found amply 
sufficient for dealing with that ever-increasing number of souls 
who pick up rationalist conclusions anywhere and everywhere, 
and are thus, somewhat needlessly, disturbed in their faith. 

The editor would beg, with all deference, to call attention to 
a theological distinction which would seem to have come into 
prominence since the author first wrote his book, and which does 
not appear to have been made sufficiently clear even in the latest 
edition. It is the distinction between inspiration and revelation. 
All the Bible is inspired, but not all the Bible is revealed. A 
sacred writer, for instance, might write down an account of an 
event as he had seen it or heard it from an eye-witness. ‘The 
source of his information is purely natural. In writing it down, 
however, he does so under the influence of that supernatural 
charism which is known as inspiration. On the other hand, he 
might have the knowledge infused into his mind directly by God. 
Such was the way in which St. Paul received the information for 
his classical passage on the Holy Eucharist. That was a reve- 
lation. And, since he was moved by the Holy Spirit to embody 
it in one of his epistles, it was also a part of inspiration. ‘The 
distinction is necessary if one is to understand the difference 

Vv 


v1 PREFACE 


between Catholic plenary inspiration and Protestant literal 
inspiration. 

The Douay version of Scripture has been generally adopted, 
but there are about three or four places where this did not liter- 
ally agree with the German version used by the author. ‘These 
cases have been rendered by a literal translation of the German. 

This new edition has been revised and brought up to date in 
its documentary and bibliographical portions. 


CONTENTS 


Mditorial: Preface mews a ce Chae MeL cae Oh ee eule cekis. 66 


First Bart 
THE HOLY LAND 


GEOGRAPHY 

Introductionamee acme ote sk 6 totic ohlt «es lt or cna” | siaelite ke 
Ib, Sipser eta “Bos gow ooo GS & oo elo. Go 6 
PA, Va oe Qe 8 Gam, OM NEUE oe hilo ocy a PekC Oe WOR cOeanE Noe ar 
ae SERIES oe ld Sick Se Gages SSM ae, ey eee re 
Gh, CO 1G. tei ae ic ae BR Go ae eee ee 
Ig, Conmibote iyi S86 6 ehgoboe ore la is Sa we aa 
Go NaturaleProducts usm .er ecm cies +) 
7. Plagues of Common Occurrence. . ...... «+ e « 
Su wellingsslood,and Clothingiy.n.) mu.) «eel e) one ae 
9, Inhabitants Before the Israelites . . ..... +... 


ht 
~~ 


G> Ol m GO to ee 


. Palestine as Divided among the Israelites . . . . . +» « « 
. Descriptions of Places 


1 ARE Ay Gauge ko. OS ay Ge eo tae Day ocean 8 
TEE SaMaArinee ec mecucmbce etter comes. Bet. Mel aott ome suite ttn 
Tite Galileorcaesmeeus sates m mil. ur 
IV. The Country East of the Jordan. . . ....24.-. 


Second Wart 
THE HOLY PEOPLE 


BipiicaAL ARCHAEOLOGY 
A. Outlines of the History of Israel 


e ° . ° e ry ° o . . 


. Traditional and Modern Accounts of the History of Israel. 

7 kosults of the Modern Account . 39% 30.2, 5 w@ « » « « 
me G.onerall Refutation ers mewn ct) suns mnistlt sim cous cil Ml our sil oir lis 
. Refutation from the Old Testament .....4.... =. 
. Refutation from the Samaritan Pentateuch. . .... . 

. Refutation from Oriental Records . .....+.++s..-s. 


B. God, and the Gods, in Israel 


Monotheism and Polytheism . . . . . . . 2 « = © «» « 
Worshipotithe Starssae.s: sy comicgn oun. u's Micuite no aes 


MEYCOLEDIP OL: LMACOS Er. veainc slo unsmre™ Neu sales i ohitel felts eMetite 
. Chanaanite Deities . . . 2 1 2 ss 6's 

. Assyrian and Babylonian Deities . .....4.. =. 

. Egyptian Deities . 


C. The Religious Institutions of Israel 


Sources of Information’. . ... .e 


Page 


66 


Vili CONTENTS 


Hirst Section 


HOLY PLACES 


I. THE TABERNACLE 
Page 


1, .General Description .( +). og on 5 > be ee otal cel ce Pe) ee a ee ee a ee 
2; rhe:Court of the Tabernacle...) cate vote scsi cane vo tenet Gem el cen falas aie) mere mene 


THe SACRED FURNITURE AND UTENSILS 


3.) Furniture in the Court of:the Tabernacle. =." << 01< meulemis mottcn iss (once oumyal’s ann T 
.. Furniture in the Holy Place =. =<. .0 %. #0 1w<) of «| sitounerte Meltcttell wi oul en temsmmEnO 
6. The Holy of Holies 2 05600125 0 aie. dine 616 105 0) 6 om eens E ot Wnt a 0 


II. THE TEMPLE 


(a) Solomon's Temple 


rs 


G. Introductory. 05 is Va. Ske Veen ee cw ae ee eeu e 1 6) sis te ae 
7. The House of the Temple COAG eee ee Te o) eee a ae al St 8 Oe ee core 6 ee 81 
8.;'The Courts of the Temple (6455.5) su 0) enrs. ore ©) coho te ee) ee ees Ge es 
9. Furniture of the Temple ..... .. -¢ reat ch ee ee a ESE: 
(b) The Second Temple 

10. Zorobabel’s Temple ke aren ey Extn e 85 
11. Herod’s Temple . Nye : : ‘ cites 87 
12, The Synagogues . . sitsrvests : . a ate aes 89 

Second Section 

HOLY PERSONS 

13. Introductory .. . ihe Af ae «ie, faPt aes 90 
14, The Levites . . A, APR Aer a) Sees carseat s 91 
15. The Priests . . .. PO at . ° ote ie te ans 94 
16. The High Priest fm ye oe, Moe otlites ce Ay UF ae 96 
17. Consecration of Priests . Sg fe © 4 oie ce sip eae 99 
The Mosaic Origin of the Priesthood sO ES ig . 101 
Appendix. The Synedrium and the Jewish Sects aioe neds 103 

Third Section 

SACRED RITUAL 

I. SACRIFICES 
18. What could be Offered Soe te chiens op outs ioe ine 106 
19. Ritual of Sacrifice . ie oc a momte atone ats : 107 
20. Varieties of Sacrifice . AM bane Ya « ° A egs 109 

(a) Bloody Sacrijices 
21. Holocausts, or Burnt Offerings . . . ae omare ° alte 109 
22. Peace Offerings .. moe sch sc Same roe 110 
23. Sin Offerings .. . ie trate siren es AP ac 112 
24. Trespass Offerings . oo oc cris ; a BA 113 
25. Special Kinds of Bloody Sacrifices. . A tec ey eee ye 115 
(b) Unbloody Sacrifices 

26. Meat Offerings . ° . ° Sion ee at) oat eee 117 
27. Drink Offerings - ° ag ory er AVC Meh eS 118 
28. Jealousy Offerings . aie a ahles om ke ° 119 
29. The Temple Taxes . Pata 1 2 . a, he 119 


CONTENTS 1X 


II. PURIFICATIONS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES 


IRELOOREMIONIOMONG Rect he yah oot a) tee ee Oe eat se | Ce a ot eo 404 
DAR EO SONLCINGS OL DORI Ly atom aio le tat wile we a tahoe ice 6 al oe ee. 191 
Me SMORNNORS LNG a LOPPOSY (ea ae at eles see othe. ete lea es te kee! Ses 199 
Dsmee MaMa AIC OALNOAS Foe Mies Fogle oo Of Guha de te sl ARS re vs eee «193 
Se MUETINGS LAW le eet se oN phy ae Pete co Pade tig) Nob gt EVIE Ee be Noche S194 
Dorr IOUMC ISOM hs Soa vias lel a9 1 eve ie oll cone he athe at oe CNN Gi ck of kale CA lay LOT 
I IVOCODTLOD OL LLOSCLYCES a) hace pte eh bh e oh po Seiko? 6 ote) clit eo ckels ol eG. 6 180 
Sie We CORCOInINg EU0GET iss en Tn GEtEr st Sas cla ee eal ota ee ae fo 181 
POE ASUN GIN vie ibe ere at bh oe sty AE Eee ul etiiaiels areule Late oie alle uet %'* s- ge e188 
39. Prayer .. OL MRA ED or Mes sme Pee Mvotn relies F's ci iheutic oi vn 5 iyer ess, Lok 
40. Music and Singing Mobi eRe comceM oMcME ers Ais i toilt tors Urer.! swn tat te Lek red rshhis) cL Lok 
A Pee LCSA URL eae ox, 610s Fis ae ak emes ee Mies edie his ketenes d Pewee) 6 sie elals 6) se) 137 
Seema OFS AUN GCUTEOT Foun Mc ee ete te ood we tale 6 ole A tye = 42> fy Shim) tsk e187 


Fourth Section 
SACRED SEASONS 


RAL NOC OLONORr ecu sates gfe Shite Urs, LENGE 6 Uks oes ae ne cio te Gace erect «ut 189 
See Wally VLOrsbip. i Che). COMDIGs cick ss sere 7en oll sae ors Hage we el «oes b ke he, +, «141 
Ce WME SP igs e) g US a hones as ee aes ater Se en Or a a a Fr | 
SREY EWE OOS mts mien sie Uy aati etter ie’. ett tc liet elie te hs fe aeons atic 8s 6144 
Reems LG OA ORICA LAY CAPM yt eMe olll's a ete acs rates ot plo alg Map sieat ohana tb ware. fa, 144 
Gm OPT OAEIOL SUDUOD ECs as ss Ss b ct'etay. Si) oer 6 hecs Leake, 4 eeu eel ete a" 145 
20 NOEL ASCH GEL Me Ms Se a cum caec a Lots che oli ste 2. sk CY Leck shaseuiic hh cterck che eee ee uk whe 146 
DU Se ONCOCORU CAs REE chins taie kek oats, Tet ney siic okt st Te Bee ells hie E ciks wien. ee ioht ciclo? ow ee 149 
DiS DRYLOLALONGMOND ES Ee agi, Gite 4, nel, eee beh eer sbte: e. fers sv stitetse ow keke 100 
52. The Feast of Tabernacles . . eee Reem et ed ea s elie ois fore elo 
53. Festivals Instituted after the Captivity Eucla Moki, ope Ut vint's yells ps tisMbey cick LO 


Third Bart 
HOLY SCRIPTURE 


DECREES OF THE Hoty SEE ReELatinc to Hoty SCRIPTURE 


Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on the Biblical Question. . . . . « . «© » « « « « « 159 
Se VELADUN OL Tal FOTH ewan het. s toe iue asthe Na bel Wel ott ve ecve 6 ithe se) sje ee 6) LTD 
Pius X on the Decisions of the Biblical Commission, etc. . . . . + + 6 © «© « « . 184 


INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE 


sem ixoneral Principles as Historical NULVCY masa ret cu ctl citsmtcdsoy sil ens) «els fe)» LSU 
2. Arrangement of an Introduction to the Bible . . . »« 1. . » «© » © » » Loo 
First Wart 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, OR HOLY SCRIPTURE AS THE WORD OF GOD 
DIA OIGERE NUL VOY aloe cured cule Montell od stfiet at sticl el nen's, elite of e\ie onis *, o> 100 
INSPIRATION 
Teaching of the Church on the Subject of Inspiration . . . 2. . 6 »« © « © « » 190 
Dies NG co PMGANG DY INSPITAtION | V1 6 tic) whist beep we els te eres «66 192 
THE CANON OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 


Gre Meaning Of Ghe Tux Pression of tirs: os ]h« is aoMte he et he eis Ue wis oo note we o. 195 
. Old and New Testaments . .. . ee Lehre ee ch Pa ie¥ So \ ato te ee kOO 
8. Formation of the Old Testament Artes Sete ee te Cie a) nn Tk coe oie “sh ite koh Ot. LOO 


> 


~ 


xX CONTENTS 


Page 

9. Contents of the Old Testament Oahon 4s G6 os css eec«. we ee (eee. (a eee 
10. Continuation . . DY Ew TS OF es CA ates Ei ee ae ee ce LL. 
11. Origin of the Canon ar ie Ne ew mestanient Sega di fe peeps 58) Galle’ gv deein, Gall a ae 
12. Contents of the New Testament Canon .. . vader rece ife delat ceiten 12 ore tema 
13. The New Testament Canon of the Earliest cnurelies Sens Lalmeces Ae Sccueetnoe tar eet Ue 


14. Ecclesiastical Decisions. . . Tere he POOR I A a ee ee 
Appendix. Protestant Opinions Rocardite i Canons 5 pe2ts ea Po ae Vag es eee 
16. Apocryphal ‘Books < 2:00") (etic hs 15 (eee eote ee ee we ake .e tet 5 Sioa ae ae 


Second Wart 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION. THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 


16.°'Transition “\.. <0 00s ees is> oe wo rel ae sie ot oo is niko Eecviic Mica otc mic iN cI cg ir a EE 


Par THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 


17. Biblical Languages in General . 2°. » aye © © © © «© © © © © © © co st eg 2D 
18: Hebrew J. 25.6) ve ve” so wei icmistces Veahounogie. s]gete iio) siren cite mcm mS 
192 Chalde@. ps 4 Ao ce 4 ee OED Cc na 6 el edhe felis Oasis teas Beeps 
20. (Greeki 21.) . eke, sell oW otmed wile. sl Cote Ne umcemeemar 
21. Original Form of the Hebrew onl Ciaides Texts © 6 Sa adel fel. she outa tel «nee eee 
22. Later Forms of the Hebrew and Chaldee Texts . . . © « © © © «© + « © © «© ZIT 
23. The Masora . . see dis~ eo. othe he, is troll ofl sive cots Meee emnr amok 
24. Hebrew Senaearetite ani Printed Editions SHS oe eS teeth Qe Fee 
25. Value of the Masoretic Text . .. .- Ah Pe eee kt ee kb Ge ce oo Soe Fes 
26. The Original Text of the Greek Books of the Bibles 709 6 6) homens) «selec Meee 
27. The Greek Manuscripts. ... . iS tetera reat Ke nO oo Doty Hee 
28. The Most Important Greek Mannseeines cee ha a ee a) CO ke ee Oe: 
29. Greek Printed HWiditions 790.0 1.) tceplie f= erie ol bolic tls) oui ellre Monica irs Mitcin eMC! 


TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE 


30. General;/Remarks .0.5 °°. Se oe Je estes, ao) wl cel, o toy ote no ee 
31. The Septuagint ss 60 ee tes a eee et Oh ete al elle ee 0 spt a 
32. Other: Greek ‘Translations. 9.) sms ie) 6, several sisi i sus) ovr ole yeu alsin toner mmCacs 
33. Later History of the Septuagint. Origen . . . . ». + « © «© »« « © « « » » 240 
34°) Chaldee:Cranslations:(Targumim) 9. e707." o) contacto iredinct ite tcl oiun cline) te tn cura NRCan 
35. Samaritan Translation of the Pentateuch . .. . . - « © « 6 « «© © «© « « wht 
36, Syriac Translations ©. 4. 5) iow) Be vel > o's) 0p ee ee ee ee ek one 2 
oie LatineTranslationss» tala and) Vulgate. une em cniictn one al rs ile) ts Nout ee) 
38. Continuation. The Vulgate in the Middle Ages . . .. . . +. «© © « «© » © « oe 
395 Continuation, » rhe CounciliofTrent 2). .1 ee sane enone (cnet c inlet coin ym coc 


Third Wart 
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION. THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 
The Books of the Old Testament 


1, Survey and Classification <<". :7 3500 3 le ae wl ss) lols) 0 oe tucu tole Mel ss Gono tel aanE 


First Section 
2. The Pentateuch. History, Criticism, Objections, Defense ..... +... . =. 258 


Second Section 
From the Entrance of the Israelites into Chanaan to the Division of the Kingdom 


3. BUrvey sc 5 nace oh, oe ere) ol se exe ee |e le Meine 4 a koa) y Mae a 6 eels eae 
4.) JOBUO TG: <u nore alia ke a's Mite gel i ity colts Pt PM of eats Ue Clo MP ollie ul «a a aay ECR 
BiG JU gay Va, Rk ee ithe “ie we) ooh np cee Rone ce) belay Clan AMM cUn SME at. tee omc id 
62) Ruths te ee ; Sea a Teh ee aT ha is! eas a ene ERO Le 
ie 


The Books of Ranual) or . Firat cd Reaond Boake of Rhice ole ais es Fs aes bs cokh aeeeaoe 


CONTENTS 


Per Oli Testament POCUyo§. 2. hai eu + ps) ah ale 
Oe LRGIERSILON yD a pare ON GS eee ok dete alo 

Oe PTOVOLDS ke iste kl chy coats ane Ets ste te 

ime Canticlevot Canticles;.mastiotlen cilia sie bees) cacmaeu! « 
SRM OCCICBIEBLOS doa ey sys, sy Selene om gabe on at 
BOM neUDOOK OL OD mea mci cakes Wis ism etn et ctsce we 6 task aie alc 


Third Section 


From the Division of the Kingdoms until the End of the 


Hae Historical: SUrveye-upcmis fmeen oneMe ene coe etme terolak: 
Oe Eropheoy in Generalvas. | sh: s Gs ee | sia ccess os oe t's 
eGreU ODAS te fe Mec tive ack Ssh ee hrct 6 bc irate cae eye hs 
Loe AMOS SOME ME shea sls ope oe an ee ee ere ins se Te, 
LS AS OCLE NG Misa. o'er hereto ae ce Ce eN AE llevet oh. te 
IADGIAS see teers ae ar dete ke te ook hehe cae oe 
Oseey care bs) ce 

MicheAsm eg wits, vcte cles 

VICE 5 a NGO ad aol Bob ate 6 Sibir Ac 

IN QIU iecee ea std Deeb cits we od SP Se OR SCL ars 
SOpHONIAS saren comic a ceese rn Rea CUR TE Ce ks go nes 
Habakuicgimee ir arm sie wer em eee then AL chief saa oat 6 
SOTOMIAS S Mee ck acl ook ol 4 oak che clo N ees Hi 

The Book of Lamentations. . ......+. 6s 
RO Ne eG een Ge ate sb ra 
Mzechiolaeyacet<t ict sare Moen ns) clos As 

DAniGl ice econ CMe) cre facie on. ei ers alae Bult ve 


Fourth Section 


SSRASREREESES 


Captivity 


From the Captivity to the Close of the Old Testament Revelation 


Historical Survey . SO ve OE oak 2% aoe 
Kings. (Third and Fourth Books of Kings) . .. . 
. Chronicles or Paralipomena .........-. 
we Dedragand Nehemias 9.6. <4 sh fos trode vo 


ee LODIASE MMe alte Mm itcesec ce Vetere iis tues. teh as 
JUGIGh Gs gee eee ar ar ae ol eis cae. hs trot ter De 
The Books of Machabees .......+4. . 
EMPL oo Se te Oo 8 8 9G Jo Wo 

VANITIES og SMO e ey a BOG Tao Rae oe 
Malachias tai snr tree sicc cd sas teem eee ei. ote onl ts 
Sirach or Ecclesiasticus . 

UPEUOi eS Sa. ide Bua hea felix ae G whois & Ae 


BSESSEASRESRE 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 


tes 


meClaasitication me. ty.1 6 casters ios leeds 


First Section 


2. The Gospels in General. . . . . 1 « «© « se » 
Hubs, MACLHOW cont, aie cj cni ofl chia cM c/s beset stiy's! ce 
HIS Vet END ky a eerie ery CR 8 Se armen or 
16-20: Ste LiUKOM. ora rote ekl MeN Moou ef “sets Sars 
24 UNC aty ao MGeteiee on he Ao Slo oo Gono a GS 
22-26. 8t.John . . oS) NAL pat WOT Sieg 
27-31. The Acts of the Apostles 
Second Section 
32-36. St. Paul the Apostle . rt. SR Ce ae 
37. The Epistle tothe Romans ....+....s. 


HAAS Suey Ua Sa Oo” eee Deol 1 MEL ath Oe Mee eer 


° 


ry e . 
e 

. ° 

° ° 


365 
374 


391 
399 


412 


Xil CONTENTS 


38-80. The Epistles to the Corinthians: J". «6 2 se 6 wes ok kee 4s eee 
40.~ Tha Epistie to the, Galatians. (<hien.«. G... 0 ee he bal val be. l cle “is! oc iNet ta, ode ee: eaeee ERS 
41. The Epistie to the Ephesians oo.) ' 6 va Ma ie vate Ce ukes «pave wie he Ne ee) eee hoe 
42. ‘The Epistle to the Philippians... 5.) se see es (alle IV Ye 4) os 8 me eee 
43© ‘The, Epistle to: the: Colossians... ws.-. is he hich ee fiw baie Me) areas 00s) Genes nate ees 
44-45. The Epistles to the Thessalonians . . . . « «© «© « « © © © «© «© «© «© © o 44 
46-47; The Epistles to Timothy ©.) . 2s .¢ wee Vere ee ye ee) acie Se Sea 
48.5 The Epistle tovDitus.” Si. cae Meats ayes ome Celhelure ts ear st Couivem gle ie Mmmm oes 
49; "The: Epistleto Philemon 32) 750-01 sis met eee ce ae eee wits hc Is 8 al tole Seen teen 
50;. The: Epistle tothe Hebrews. 2.5. fen 6 Be sche Me kanhol ct see 0) s uien! cults mts Memon 
Biz Ehe.Catholie Epistles: so ve. ys tse Sta hen noo cen ote ihe le irelite! Mie Tkcllte ih osm ste a Seem eCh 
b2.- Fhe Kpistle of St..James) 2 esire me! belive, a0 weiss e. che sMMo uo Mtc mS il ier cul suaia MEE 
63. The Two Epistiestof St. Peter. hts ice) iv ene Be re oe Mel teu oie Soul's onus emer 
54> Phe! Three Epistlesiof St« John =. veri. 6.056 ve se 16 76 bolus Veulsu tre lieu aed ce cm aoe 
55, The Epistle of St. Jude the Apostle . . 1. . «© «© « « e © © © = © 8 ‘0 « « S42 
Third Section 
BGs “The Apocalypse se «se Ja Vereihe "Ss Wa wos Sols ws el elie) wile) s yee 


Fourth Bart 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE (HERMENEUTICS) 
iG Introduction. « e . e e e e e . ° . . e . . . e . . . bd . e 449 


Hirst Section 
THE MEANING OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 
2. The Meaning in General of Holy Scripture. . . . 2 . « « « © « © « « « « 40 
. The Application of the Literal and Mystical Meaning ....... ee... 453 
€; Of Accommodation =< Ste -.\ ts wane on oat cu aero cunicet cults stein tei: ohuteint, mame 
Second Section 
OF DISCOVERING THE MEANING OF HOLY SCRIPTURE (HEURISTICS) 

6. Principles laid down by the’ Church iif. 2.7. sisters ica setons peer ate ern jeer a 
6. Hermeneutical Rules Based on the Peculiar Character of the Bible . . .... . 462 
Third Section 
EXPLANATIONS OF THE TEXT 


o> 


Te) PATAPHTASCS: 5-16 8 6) epi els U\s Wau sphey nh varetitcck se! cu. sun culcalio Boater tems can cmnle mamma es 
8. Scholia i °c “is fe Bs as coviie ee Ue Meals Wied sh ebteli et custet. at, tect Si cut ae eer nae 
97 Glossese Shwe apgee tee! eloiat beg a evireti/s) molten i a shile Uuhs tac ah Tate it ec 
10. ' Commentaries <5) 9 3) oo 0's UG es ieime! on no, he) heuer taste stcts kre Rife tu ot Mic our me ee 
11. Study and Reading of the Bible. 00.0. 60 a 0) oe ws te a bw cel ee ween cee 

Bibliography? 2° sw ears, desk tee ee ats ei eC eM geet gan tee meen Tee are 


APPENDIX UN" He Mae ts he vel yy eit sm cl cer le) wet e anne ht stale cites ita NEN tals itor mR Cun 
Decisions of the Biblical: Commission...) oa ain cit) ol ocd at ctitis iis an ota nto an an ee eee 


INDEX..OF ‘SUBJECTS 0) 4.0%. ‘ceo tse lel use eh ete. "oe ed vi canted oak aia aue arom ame Seated 
Maps AND ILLUSTRATIONS 


The Temple at the Time of Christ. . . . 2 . © ss «© « «© «© «© «© « « « Promisepiece 
Chanaan as Divided among the Twelve Tribes . . . . « « «© » + « « « » Opposite 20 
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Palestine inthe: Rimeiof Christ. 9. v6 soca see tee Reins Meme cee sill steno ns -. 370 
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FIRST PART 


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PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR 
THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


INTRODUCTION 


HE Christian religion, and with it the whole civilization of 

Christian nations, is based upon Israel. The modern world, 
which calls itself Christian, is inseparably connected with the 
people of Israel, and the new Covenant between God and man, 
instituted by Christ, is only the extension and development 
of the old Israelite Covenant. Out of Israel proceeded the 
Saviour and salvation for the whole world. “Salvation is of 
the Jews ” are words used by Christ Himself in His conversation 
with the Samaritan woman (John iv. 22). Amidst the Israel- 
ites grew up the body of literature also, that both Jews and 
Christians venerate as “ Holy Writ.” What Greece and Rome 
received from the East they passed on with their own additions 
to the West, and thence the benefits of salvation have been 
spread abroad over the whole world. 

Not only believers, but also unbelievers, study Holy Scripture 
with peculiar interest. The former do so for their own edifi- 
cation, to strengthen their faith and to find means to defend 
the truth; the latter often show even greater zeal, if possible, in 
their efforts to undermine the foundations of faith. No one can 
attain to a full comprehension of the documentary evidence for 
our faith without taking into consideration the circumstances 
of the early history of the Jewish race and the course of events 
affecting this people. 

Therefore, before beginning to discuss Holy Scripture, we pro- 
pose to give some account of the Holy Land, including a sketch 
of the history and religious institutions of Israel. Then we can 
proceed to discuss the Bible and its interpretation. 


THE HOLY LAND. 


GEOGRAPHY * 


1. SITUATION OF PALESTINE 


F Israel was the nation chosen by God to preserve the true 
religion and to be instrumental in the salvation of mankind, 
—and for the present we shall assume this to be the case, — 
then it was but fitting that a suitable habitation should be 
assigned to this people, where it might live its own life and 
fulfill the task assigned to it. No country could be found better 
adapted to this purpose. (1) Palestine resembled a lofty for- 
tress, shut off and protected on all sides from hostile invasions. 
In the north Lebanon formed a strong boundary; on the west 
was the sea, the stormy breakers of which made approach on 
that side almost impossible; the south and the east were pro- 
tected by deserts. In this way the inhabitants of this country 


1 Apart from the sacred writings themselves, we derive our knowl- 
edge of the geographical features of Palestine from the works of some 
Greek and Latin authors who mention the East, and especially the little 
Jewish nation. Chief among these are Strabo the geographer, and the 
Elder Pliny; but Herodotus, Diodorus of Sicily, Plutarch and Tacitus 
also supply information. Allusion must be made, moreover, to the Ono- 
masticon (Name book) of Holy Scripture, compiled by Eusebius and 
translated into Latin by Saint Jerome (printed by Vallarsi among 
Saint Jerome’s works; cf. Onomastica sacra, ed. de Lagarde, Gottingen, 
1887). Descriptions written by travelers, and especially by pilgrims in 
biblical countries, are also important. The earliest pilgrim’s book is the 
Itinerarium Burdigalense, the author of which was an unknown Chris- 
tian from Bordeaux, who visited the Holy Land about 333 a.p.; but the 
Peregrinetio s. Silvie Aquitane (385-388), Rome, 1888, and the Pere- 
grinatio s. Paule, by Saint Jerome, are almost equally old. The Hode- 
poricor s. Willibaldi, Hichstidt, 1881, contains an account of a journey 
made by this saint in the years 723-727. Of. Itinera hierosolymitana 


THE HOLY LAND 5 


were cut off from intercourse with the world and its errors, and 
were able to live in peace and to serve the true God undisturbed. 
(2) Palestine lay in the center of the civilized world as known 
to the ancients. Its seclusion was not absolute, for it was sur- 
rounded by civilized countries, viz., Assyria and Babylonia, Phe- 
nicia and Egypt, Greece and Italy. Jerusalem lay midway 
between Babylonia and Athens and between Ninive and the 
mouth of the Nile. The chief trading routes skirted the bound- 
aries of Palestine and the great trading cities of Tyre and 
Sidon, Damascus, Ninive and Babylon were all in its neigh- 
borhood. Thus it was possible for God’s chosen people to 
enjoy all the benefits of civilization without being forced to 
share its disadvantages. (3) The position of Palestine was 
favorable to its future task. Its central situation between the 
three continents of the ancient world was carefully adapted by 
Providence for the speedy dissemination amongst all countries 
of the tidings of the Messianic kingdom, when the time for 
redemption should come. Such a position was of the utmost 
importance at a period when almost all journeys were made 
on foot, apart from scanty intercourse by means of caravans, 
and navigation, which was carried on with great difficulty. 
Nowadays it is scarcely possible to form any idea of the ob- 
stacles to travel and transport that existed in antiquity. 


sec. IV—VIII ex recensione Pauli Geyer (Corp. script. eccl. lat. Vindob., 
T. xcxxviiu.), Leipz., 1898. Many pilgrims’ books have come down to us 
from the Middle Ages, and of the more recent books of travels we may 
mention particularly the works of Niebuhr, Seetzen, Chateaubriand, 
Schubert, Geramb, Robinson, Tobler, Mislin, Sepp, Dixon, Schegg, Mess- 
mer, Socin, Keppler, Fahrngruber, Liévin, Baideker-Benzinger and Riick- 
ert; also Meistermann’s Nouveau guide de Terre Sainte avec 23 cartes 
et 140 plans, Paris, 1906.— Atlas Scripture sacre, auctore R. de Riess, 
ed. 2, Friburgi, Br., 1906. M. Hagen, S.J., Atlas Buiblicus, Paris, 
1907. 

Architectural remains and pieces of sculpture that have come down 
to us from early times are also interesting, but very few remains of this 
kind have been preserved in Palestine. Further information regarding 
the sources of our knowledge of biblical geography may be obtained by 
referring to the Catholic Encyclopedia; Roehricht, Bibliotheca geo- 
graphica Palestine, Berlin, 1890; Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia 
biblica, London, 1901; Hastings, “ A Dictionary of the Bible,’? Edin- 
burgh, 1898-1902; Vigouroux, Dictionnaire de la Bible, Paris, 


6 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Ezechiel vy. 5: “Thus saith the Lord God: This is Jerusalem, I have 
set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her.” 

Ezechiel xx. 6: “I lifted up my hand for them (the Israelites) to 
bring them out of the land of Egypt, into a land which I had provided 
for them, flowing with milk and honey, which excelleth amongst all 
lands.” 

Deuteronomy iv. 6: (The heathen are to say of the Israelites,) “ Be- 
hold a wise and understanding people, a great nation.” 

Of. Gen. xii. 7; xili. 14; xv. 7, 183 “<xvil, 8;.sxxvl. 4, 6te:s avenue 
Xxxli. 8, etc.; xxxiii. 28, 29. 


2. HXTENT 


In its configuration Palestine falls into two parts, being di- 
vided by the Jordan into a large region lying to the west of the 
river and a smaller one lying to the east. The country to the 
west of the Jordan is Chanaan, properly so called, stretching 
from Lebanon in the north to the Arabian desert in the south, 
and from the Jordan on the east to the sea on the west. The 
smaller district east of the Jordan was formerly called Galaad 
or Gilead,? and, in the time of Christ, Perea; it extends from 
the range of Hermon on the north to the Arnon on the south, 
which river flowing from the east falls into the Dead Sea. On 
its eastern side this district is gradually merged in the great 
plain of the Euphrates. Between these two regions lies the 
valley of the Jordan, now called El Ghor=the depression. 
Palestine extends, therefore, from latitude 31° N. to beyond 33° 
N., and from longitude 34° 30 E. to beyond 36° 30 HE. Its 
length from north to south is approximately 150 English miles 
and its breadth from east to west 125 miles. Its total area is 
about the same as that of the kingdom of Belgium. 


3. NAMES 


The oldest name for the chief part of the country was 
Chanaan. This name was borne by Cham’s fourth son, the 
ancestor of the Chanaanites, who occupied all the land west 
of the Jordan. The name Chanaan therefore excludes the dis- 


> sy) is interpreted as meaning “the rugged region,’ from ya 
rough, rugged; but the traditional meaning is “ hill of testimony ” (see 
Gen. xxxi. 21, etc.). 


THE HOLY LAND 7 


trict eastward of the Jordan, but includes Pheenicia, and when 
in course of time the Chanaanites were driven to the northwest 
as the Israelites settled in the country, only Pheenicia re- 
tained the old name of Chanaan. (“ The woman of Chanaan,” 
Matt. xv. 22.)? Other names are: the Land of Israel, because 
it was inhabited by the descendants of Jacob or Israel; Land 
of the Hebrews, i.e. the descendants of Heber, or the people 
from beyond; ? Land of Yahweh (God), because the country was 
always to be regarded as belonging to God in a peculiar degree, 
and He permitted the Israelites to dwell in it under definite 
conditions; Land of Juda, because from the time of David 
and Solomon onwards the tribe of Juda was pre-eminent, and 
because the exiles who returned from the Babylonian captivity 
belonged almost exclusively to this tribe, so that the people 
came to be known as Jews, and Greek and Roman writers speak 
of the whole country as Judea. The Jews call Palestine the 
Holy Land because it belonged especially to God and was sanc- 
tified by God’s presence in the Temple; and Christians give 


* It is possible to derive Chanaan from kana’, to bend, to settle down, 
and thus Chanaan would mean the low-lying land, as opposed to ’aram, 
the high ground (Maurer, Lexikon). The early inhabitants might have 
been called Chanaanites, the low-landers, and in this case the name of 
the founder of the race would not have been Chanaan, but would simply 
be unknown. This interpretation is, however, inaccurate. Chanaan is 
a mountainous country and Aram is chiefly a plain watered by rivers; 
hence Aram cannot mean “high ground,” and the origin of the word is 
doubtful. We may therefore assume that the name of the founder of 
the race was transferred to the country inhabited by the race. — As the 
Pheenicians were traders, the Israelites often called all merchants 
‘** Chanaanites.”’ 

* Ewald derives the name from Heber, but it seems better to connect 
it either with ‘abar, to pass over, or with ‘eber, beyond. The name seems 
to have been originally given to the Israelites by the heathen inhabit- 
ants, because they came from beyond the Jordan. They generally spoke 
of themselves as the Children of Israel. “Israel” means “ God fight- 
eth,” —a very suitable name for the community of believers, who were 
constantly assailed by enemies and seemed again and again to be on the 
verge of destruction, but nevertheless outlasted all their foes, because 
God fought for and with them. Thus the followers of God under the 
new dispensation are known as the “ Church Militant.” Cf. Wellhausen, 
Isr. u. jiid. Geschichte, 15. The struggle described in Gen. xxxii. 24, etc., 
when Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, probably signifies that Jacob’s 
descendants would be punished for their repeated resistance to God’s 
commands, just as Jacob was lamed in wrestling. 


8 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


it the same name because it was the scene of our Lord’s life 
and death. It is called the Land of Promise (Heb. xi. 9), or 
the Promised Land, because God promised it to the patriarchs 
as their dwelling place. Lastly, the name Palestine comes from 
peléschet or Philistine-land; this name was originally given 
only to the strip of coast on the southwest inhabited by the 
Philistines, but the Greeks and Romans, who visited the coast 
before they penetrated inland, applied the name to the whole 
country. 


4, CLIMATE 


Lying as it does in latitude 32°, Palestine has a mild climate, 
and suffers neither from excessive heat nor from extreme cold. 
The seasons differ from one another less than they do with us, 
and in Holv Scripture as a rule only two seasons, winter and 
summer, are mentioned. Winter lasts from the beginning of 
November until March, but is not so cold as ours. It sets in 
with the early rains (jore or chariph), which soften the ground 
and facilitate the sowing of the winter crops (barley and 
wheat). Rain continues to fall intermittently during the fol- 
lowing months, and occasionally snow is seen, but seldom lies 
more than a few days; the earth hardly ever freezes. February 
is the wettest month of the year. Corn reaches its full height 
in March, and after the late rains (malgosch) at the end of this 
month the summer crops are sown.’ The corn grown in winter 
is harvested in April and May, and then the summer sets in, 
during which rain seldom falls; the earth soon loses its ver- 
dure and most of the brooks dry up. ‘The heat increases 
rapidly and is very oppressive in August, when the ther- 
mometer often rises above 100° Fahrenheit. The nights, how- 
ever, are cool and there is abundant dew. The days vary in 
length from ten to fourteen hours. In December the sun 
rises a little before seven and sets about five; in June it rises 
a little before five and sets soon after seven. 


1 The farmers anxiously await the rain, for it causes the floors to 
be filled with wheat and the presses to overflow with wine and oil 
(Joel ii, 24). Job boasls that men waited for him as for rain and 
they opened their mouth as for a latter shower (xxix. 23). 


THE HOLY LAND 9 


5. CONFIGURATION 1 


Almost the whole country is hilly, as it is crossed by off- 
shoots of.the Lebanon range. Lebanon itself (=the white 
mountain) hes to the north of Palestine and belongs not to it 
but to Syria; Little Lebanon (Antilibanus) to the east and 
Hermon, about 10,000 feet high, with its summit always covered 
with snow, likewise belong to Syria. Between these two ranges 
lies a broad, deep valley called Coelosyria (KoiAn Zupia = hol- 
low Syria) which never formed part of Palestine. 

1. Offshoots of Mount Lebanon form the hill country west- 
ward of the Jordan. The most conspicuous heights in the 
_ north are Thabor (1850 feet), and the promontory of Carmel 
(1800 feet above the Mediterranean). Farther south, in 
Samaria, are Garizim and Ebal, both about 2500 feet high, and 
still farther, near Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives reaches a 
height of about 2650 feet, while some points near Hebron, quite 
in the south, are 2800 feet above sea level. The whole range 
is intersected by numerous valleys, the broadest being the plain 
of Esdrelon, watered by the brook Kison. ‘Towards the east 
the mountains terminate abruptly with the valley of the Jordan, 
but towards the west they sink in a succession of terraces down 
to the sea. Along the coast is a flat strip of fertile land, known 
as the Plain of Saron, where the Philistines dwelt. 

2. The mountains east of the Jordan are a prolongation of 
the Little Lebanon range, and are from 1300 to 2200 feet above 
the sea. On the east they sink gradually down to the great plain 
of the Euphrates, but on the west the descent to the valley of the 
Jordan is steep and abrupt. The high ground is intersected by 
several deep valleys, along which rivers flow, the chief being the 
Jabbok and the Arnon. 

3. The valley of the Jordan runs nearly due north and south 
between these ranges of hills and extends from the foot of Her- 
mon to the Dead Sea, and even beyond it, being shut in by steep 
hills on either side. Its length is about 125 English miles, 

1 A fuller account of the configuration of Palestine will be found in 


J. Wimmer’s Palistinas Boden mit seiner Pflanzen- und Tierwelt, Co- 
logne, 1902. 


10 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and its breadth varies from 6 to 13 miles. Its climate is mild, 
and its soil more fertile than that of the hill country. The 
Jordan (Hajjarden, the descending) rises on Mount Hermon 
and is the chief river in the Holy Land; owing to the rapid 
slope of the land it flows very quickly, and contains about 
thirty waterfalls; it is not navigable. Quite in the north, not 
far from its source, it flows through the small, swampy Lake 
Merom, and ten miles further on it enters the beautiful Lake 
of Genesareth. The lake is over 600 feet below the sea level, 
is 14 miles long and 6 broad, and has sweet, clear water, abound- 
ing in fish. Its banks are picturesque, though now desolate. In 
our Saviour’s time they were covered with prosperous villages, 
which He took pleasure in visiting. ‘The Jordan leaves the lake 
by a cataract at its southern end, being by this time a stream 
about 40 feet broad and 7 feet deep. It does not flow in the 
middle of the valley, but keeps along the eastern side, until after 
a further course of nearly 80 miles it enters the Dead Sea. 
This lake, called by the Arabs Bahr Lut or Lot’s Sea, hes 1300 
feet below sea level, and is 47 miles long and 10 miles across. 
It is shut in by high, barren walls of rock, and is justly called 
the Dead Sea, as no vegetation is visible anywhere near it and 
no fish can live in it. The water is of a grayish green tint, 
not quite transparent, and it contains 25 per cent of salt. It 
is therefore more brackish than sea water and of a greater 
specific gravity than the human body. 'The lake is divided into 
two very different parts by a promontory stretching out from 
the eastern shore. The northerly part is on an average 1100 
to 1300 feet deep, while the southern part, which forms about 
a quarter of the whole lake, is only 13 to 16 feet in depth. 
This smaller part appears to be of later formation than the 
rest, and it seems probable that the soil, permeated as it is 
with resinous substances, was at some period set on fire, possibly 
by lightning, and it gradually burnt itself out.1 


1 The subject has been discussed in a periodical called Géa (1897, nos. 
7 and 8, pp. 402, ete.) and the writers of the articles tend to ascribe the 
present state of the lake to the action of an earthquake. Cf., however, 
Natur und Offenbarung, 1900, no. 3, and also Elbert, Entstehung und 
Geschichte des Toten Meeres. In any case we see the results of punitive 


THE HOLY LAND 1a! 


This resulted in the formation of a depression over which 
the water of the northern part of the lake poured. It would 
seem that the water acquired its extreme saltness only after 
this occurrence, as it has since then been brought into contact 
with the bed of rock salt to the south of the lake. The biblical 
account of the catastrophe is given in Genesis xix. According to 
it four towns, Sodom, Gomorrha, Seboim and Adama, stood on 
a fertile plain to the south of the lake, and were destroyed in 
the time of Abraham, while Segor, a smaller city, was spared.? 


6. NatTurAL Propucts 


In consequence of Israel’s want of faith and God’s curse, 
Palestine is at the present time barren and unproductive. For- 
merly, however, it was a very fruitful country, capable of 
supporting four or five million inhabitants, whereas now it has 
scarcely 800,000.” 

The natural causes of the present desolation are: the destruc- 
tion of forests, which has caused the former abundant supply 
of water to diminish (Deut. vill. 7) ;* the numerous wars and 


action on God’s part, as recorded in Holy Scripture. Nature is God’s 
instrument. 

* Since 1900 a steamer, built in Hamburg and carrying thirty-four 
passengers besides cargo, has been plying regularly along the Dead Sea, 
which had been deserted for thousands of years. It has opened up trade 
between Jerusalem and Kerak, the old capital of the Moabites, which 
has a population of 1800 Christians and 6000 Mahometans, and is the 
only town of any commercial importance situated east of the Jordan. 

? According to Fr. Liévin, and also Bideker-Benzinger, Paldstina, 
fifth ed., Leipzig, 1900, the population consists of about 440,000 Mahome- 
tans; 200,000 Jews, mostly immigrants in the last few years; 50,000 
Christians, half of whom are Catholics and the other half Greeks not 
Uniates; and the remainder includes Armenians and Druses and a few 
Protestants. The population is only a quarter as dense as that of 
Germany. 

8 “For the Lord thy God will bring thee into a good land, of brooks 
and of waters, and of fountains, in the plains of which and the hills deep 
rivers break out.’”’ Even in the time of Esdras and Nehemias the high 
ground must still have been covered with forests, for in Nehemias viii. 
15, we read the command to “ Go forth to the mount and fetch branches 
of olive, and branches of beautiful wood.” When forests are cut down 
the springs and brooks dry up, the banks of which are mentioned in 
Leviticus xxiii. 40, as the places where the willows grow. 


Z 
12 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


devastations with which the country was harassed; and the 
Turkish supremacy, which has always proved hostile to progress. 
In spite of all this, however, Palestine still shows traces of 
great fertility.* 

Palestine is poor in minerals. There are some iron mines 
in the north, and rock salt is found in the south, near the 
Dead Sea, but these are almost all the mineral products. The 
vegetable kingdom is abundantly represented. 

At the time when the Scriptures were written the natural 
fertility of the soil was increased by the extraordinary care 
with which it was cultivated. Plots of ground were protected 
against wild animals by hedges and walls and against floods 
by being laid out in terraces. Artificial means of irrigation 
were everywhere employed (cisterns, channels and ponds) wher- 
ever the natural water supply was deficient. Wheat and barley 
were grown in great quantities, rye and oats were unknown. 
The corn surplus was so large that much could be exported, and 
the Phcenicians especially imported from Palestine the large 
amount of grain that they required (cf. Acts xii. 20). Palestine 
was very rich also in vineyards, and even now the vines often 
grow to the height of trees and bear bunches of grapes weigh- 
ing several pounds. There was no dearth of lentils and beans, 
and flax was plentiful, though it is doubtful whether cotton 
was cultivated. Among the trees with foliage may be mentioned 
the fig, the olive, palms, pomegranate, apple (tappuach), oak, 
terebinth, acacia, tamarisk and sycamore; they furnished the 
ordinary wood used for building purposes; among conifers the 
cypress and the cedar, the wood of the latter being used for 
buildings of the highest class. Many shrubs abounded, such 
as the oleander, myrtle, mandragora and hyssop. 

According to Leviticus x. and xi., animals were divided into 
four classes, — (1) the larger land animals, (2) water crea- 
tures, (3) birds, (4) other animals. 

(1) The first class is subdivided into cattle (behema), i.e. 


* The sect of the German Templars have in modern times succeeded 
in raising very fine crops in various places; e.g., near Jaffa and Jerusa- 
lem. The same is true of recent Jewish settlers in both the east and the 
west of the country. 


THE HOLY LAND 13 


tame domestic animals, and beasts of the field (chajjath haarez), 
i.e. wild creatures. Of the domestic animals, oxen, sheep and 
goats were bred in great numbers,! so that every year many 
thousands of them could be sacrificed and killed for food. Cattle 
were used in agriculture, for plowing, for threshing out the 
corn, and for drawing wagons. Many asses were kept, intelligent 
animals, on which people generally rode, though they were also 
employed in drawing the plow and in working the larger mills. 
Camels, or rather dromedaries with one hump (animals with 
two humps occur only in the heart of Asia), served then, as 
now, to carry merchandise and travelers on long journeys. 
Horses were not much used until the time of David. Dogs 
were generally despised as savage and bloodthirsty and as re- 
sembling wolves (Ps. lvili. 7) ; it is only in the book of Tobias 
and in the New Testament that there is any mention of dogs 
as domestic animals. Swine were not kept at all. 

Many wild animals were used for food, such as stags, ante- 
lopes or gazelles, and ibexes. The hare was regarded as unclean. 
Mention is made of the following savage beasts: the wild boar, 
the bear, the wolf, the lion, the panther, the hyena, the lynx 
and the jackal. 

(2) Only such fish were eaten as had fins and scales. The 
Lake of Genesareth abounded in fish and at the time of our 
Lord many of the people in that neighborhood lived by fishing. 
In this region fish served as the usual relish eaten with bread 
(cf. Matt. xiv. 17). 

(3) There were many pigeons, wood pigeons and turtledoves 
in Palestine (Ezech. vil. 16), and partridges, swallows and 
cranes were well known; hens are only mentioned in the New 
Testament. Birds of prey were numerous, and were all regarded 
as unclean. Birdcatching was common, but when a bird’s nest 
was discovered it was forbidden to take with the young ones also 


1 In spring the cattle were driven out to pasture and left out during 
the whole summer, until the approach of winter. At night they were 
collected into a fold, a space surrounded by a low wall, at the entrance 
to which one of the shepherds kept watch all night. Such folds were 
often very large, and afforded room for several flocks under different 
shepherds. Similes from pastoral life abound in Holy Scripture, and 
our Lord speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd, John x. 


14 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the mother bird (Deut. xxii. 6). In this way the various 
species were preserved.? 

(4) Other creatures are divided into four classes, according 
to Leviticus xi. 20, ete.: (a) animals that walk upon the earth, 
such as the weasel, the mouse and various kinds of lizards; (0) 
those that creep on their belly, such as worms and all kinds 
of snakes; (c) small creatures with wings, such as grasshoppers 
(four varieties of which are mentioned in Lev. xi. 22 as edible), 
flies, gnats, wasps and bees; the latter abounded, although no 
attention was paid to bee-keeping, and honey was frequently 
eaten; (d) small creatures with many feet, such as beetles, ants, 
spiders and scorpions. 


% PLAGUES OF CoMMON OCCURRENCE 


Under this heading four things may be mentioned: 

1. The Samum, a hot wind that prevails in the desert and 
is dangerous to life. It is injurious owing to its being very 
hot and dry, and it carries a quantity of fine dust with it. Men 
try to avoid it by throwing themselves flat on the ground, as 
it always blows a few feet above the earth. 

2. The plague, which formerly visited Palestine very fre- 
quently and caused great loss of life. For the last few years 
the Holy Land has been spared this visitation. 

3. Leprosy,? at one time very common throughout the East, 
but now of less frequent occurrence. 

4. Locusts, a kind of grasshopper, capable of breeding in 
incredible numbers, so as often to overspread and devastate 
whole districts. Joel ii. 3, “The land is like a garden of 
pleasure before it, and behind it a desolate wilderness.” 


1 In Lev. xi. 13-16, and Deut. xiv. 12, ete., the following birds are men- 
tioned as unfit for food: the eagle, the griffin, the osprey, the kite, the 
vulture, the raven, the ostrich, the owl, the sea mew, the falcon, the 
screech owl, the cormorant, the ibis, the swan, the pelican, the purple 
water hen, the stork, the heron, the lapwing and the bat (among the 
ancients the bat was always reckoned as a bird). 

* For full information regarding this disease, that is still prevalent 
in Palestine and elsewhere, see Die Kath. Missionen, 1902, 1903. 


THE HOLY LAND 15 


8. DweLuines, Foop anp CLOTHING 


1. The Patriarchs lived as nomads in tents resembling those 
of Bedouin Arabs at the present time. Covers made of goats’ 
hair or sometimes of linen were stretched over several uprights 
and fastened down to the earth by means of pegs at the sides. 
As a rule a curtain divided each tent into two apartments, one 
for the men and the other for the women and little children; 
occasionally there was a third apartment for the servants. Some- 
times the women occupied a separate tent. A cluster of tents 
round that of the chieftain, now called the Sheikh, formed a 
village. 

In mountainous parts of the country caves were often used as 
dwellings, or artificial caves were hollowed in the rocks. The 
Horites to the east of the Jordan were so called from their 
living in caves (chor= cave). An entrance was often built in 
front of the cave, so that the dwelling consisted of two parts. 
The house of the Holy Family in Nazareth seems to have been 
of this kind. Caves served also as places of burial, and were 
then closed with a stone; such was our Lord’s grave. Cf. also 
Gen. xxi. 9; Matt. viii. 28; John xi. 39. 

2. The houses of the settled population were then as now 
built of clay bricks, which were seldom baked, but only dried 
in the sun; hence the buildings did not last long. The houses 
of wealthy persons were built of hewn stone. The beams were 
mostly of sycamore wood, i.e. the wood of the fig-mulberry 
tree, which often grows to an enormous size. ‘The walls were 
lime-washed, and the floors were of clay, firmly stamped down. 
As a rule a house had but one story and a flat roof, on which 
the occupants could walk about and follow their employments, 
especially in the cool of the evening. In order to prevent them 
from falling down, it was often necessary to have a parapet 
or a trellis round the roof (Deut. xxii. 8). Often there was 
an upper room on the roof. A staircase led from the roof down 
into the house or else to the road outside. 

The door of the house was secured with a wooden bolt having 
openings in it, into which a large key fitted, with a movable iron 


16 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


tip, so that the bolt could be moved backwards and forwards. 
Above the door a text of Scripture was inscribed (Deut. vi. 9). 
The windows were not glazed, for glass was very costly, but 
they were latticed, and there were fewer of them than in our 
houses. One indispensable article in every house was a candle- 
stick, — a wooden stand supporting a lamp. A hand mill was 
to be found in almost every house. 

3. The food of the people consisted chiefly of grain. Wheat 
supplied the daily bread, and only the poor ate barley bread. 
Unripe grain was often cooked in oil, but as a rule it was ground 
to flour and baked into bread, which very frequently was un- 
leavened, such as is still common in the East The loaves 
were round or long in shape, about the size of a plate, and of 
the thickness of a finger. They were not cut but broken at 
meals. Bread was the chief article of food, hence in the Lord’s 
Prayer we ask for “our daily bread.” As a relish the Israelites 
often ate fruit or fried fish, although there was no lack of meat. 
Only very poor people or strict penitents ate locusts (Lev. xi. 22; 
Matt. i. 4). 

The ordinary beverage was water. The dearth of water in 
the East causes a draught of fresh water to be regarded as a 
great boon, hence a special reward is promised to the giver of 
it (Matt. x. 42; xxv. 42). As the water was seldom quite 
fresh, but drawn from cisterns, the common people in summer 
quenched their thirst (Num. vi. 3; Ruth ii. 9) with a sour 
drink (chomez) made from dates, into which they dipped their 
bread. The upper classes drank wine (jajin), which was no 
doubt mixed with water.t. They had also an artificial wine 
(schekar, oixepa, sicera) prepared by fermentation from grain, 
fruit or honey, with the addition of spices. 

4, They usually took two meals daily, at noon and in the 
evening. The latter meal seems to have been the more impor- 
tant, as the solemn Paschal supper had to be celebrated at 
night (the meal at which the Holy Eucharist was instituted) ; 
also the wedding feasts were held in the evening (Matt. xxv. 


1 The Greeks and Romans. drank wine much diluted with water. 
YVonwem temperatum consisted of one part of wine to three parts of water. 


THE HOLY LAND 1Y 


1-13). Both before and after a meal it was customary to 
wash the hands. In early times people sat at table (Judges xix. 
6: “They sat down together and ate and drank”), but after- 
wards it became the fashion to recline on cushions,” leaning on 
the left arm, and using the right to carry the food to the mouth. 
The feet, that were of course bare, were stretched out at the 
back. 

5. The clothing worn by the Israelites was commonly a tunic 
(kethoneth, yeTov, tunica) with a cloak or upper garment 
(beged) over it. The tunic was made of linen or woolen cloth 
and reached to the knees; it had very short sleeves or none 
at all. A coat that came down to the ankles and wrists was 
considered a festival garment (kethoneth passim, Gen. xxxvii. 3). 
The tunic was held in place by a girdle round the waist. Over 
it was worn the cloak, a square piece of cloth, which frequently 
served also as a bed covering. At its four corners were tassels 
fastened to a blue cord (arba kanphoth = fringes. Num. xv. 
38). The feet were shod with sandals, and a band formed the 
headgear; women wore a veil. Isaias speaks of the vanity of 
women in dress (ill. 16-23). “The daughters of Sion are 
haughty, and have walked with stretched-out necks, and wanton 
glances of their eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their 
feet and moved in a set pace. . . . The Lord will take away the 
ornaments of shoes and little moons, and chains and necklaces, 
and bracelets, and bonnets, and bodkins, and ornaments of 
the legs and tablets, and sweet balls, and earrings, and rings, 
and jewels hanging on the forehead, and changes of apparel, and 
short cloaks, and fine linen and crisping pins, and looking- 
glasses, and lawns, and headbands, and fine veils.” 

The present state of the native population is very depressing. 
Their dwellings are mostly mud huts with flat roofs, and it 
is only through the narrow doorway that light and air can 
penetrate into them. The fellah generally owns a small plot 

1 The Greeks and Romans also took their chief meal (deirvoy, cena) 
in the evening. The midday repast was a lighter meal, more like our 
breakfast or luncheon, hence it was called prandium, i.e., early meal 
(pay = mpwny, early, connected with mpwt). 


* Triclinia, so called because there was generally room for three per: 
sons. These couches had no backs. 


18 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


of land, on which he grows wheat, barley and a few vegetables. 
He may possess also some olive and fig trees, and perhaps some 
sheep, goats and fowls, an ass, a horse or a camel. The work 
of a fellahin family is divided between the husband, who looks 
after the land, and the wife, who does everything else. Thus 
the chief burden falls on the weaker sex. The woman has to 
provide the meals, which, simple as they are, involve fetching 
water, preparing fuel by mixing chaff with animals’ dung, 
grinding the corn at the handmill, and making and baking the 
bread. She has moreover to make all the clothing, and carry 
a child on her back while she does her work. 

The meals are very simple; the chief article of food is 
bread, mostly unleavened and newly baked, and as a relish 
a few olives or onions, figs or grapes; sometimes rice with sour 
milk. Meat is seldom seen. The ordinary beverage is water, 
generally drawn from a cistern, and only on festive occasions 
is a cup of coffee produced. Amusements as we understand 
them do not exist, with the sole exception of tobacco smoking. 
No one can be called well to do, although so very little is re- 
quired to maintain a family. The chief reason for this deplor- 
able state of affairs is that the taxation is very heavy. The 
tenth part of all that the land produces is claimed by the govern- 
ment. For every sheep, goat and pig three piasters (about 12 
cents) must be paid yearly, and in addition there is a land tax 
of four piasters (16 cents) on every piece of land worth 1000 
piasters ($40.00). All non-Mahometans have to purchase exemp- 
tion from military service, and according to Liévin each man 
has to pay yearly 38 piasters ($1.50). Besides all this there 
are tolls on bridges and roads, customs duties, death duties, 
trade taxes, etc. Moreover the manner of collecting the taxes 
makes them more oppressive; all taxes, but especially the 
tax on land produce, are generally leased —the man who ac- 
cepts the contract paying a fixed sum to the government and 
then collecting the tax for himself, in doing which he is 
often assisted by armed men, and tales of atrocities are by 
no means uncommon. The fellah is often obliged to borrow 
money from usurers, who charge from 100 to 200 per cent 
interest. Turkish officials seldom draw a fixed salary with any 


THE HOLY LAND 19 


regularity, and each tries to wring money out of his unhappy 
subordinates to make up for his own arrears of salary. In 
this way there is no end to the extortions. 

The European immigrants, who are now fairly numerous, 
are in a far better position, and are engaged in trade and in 
opening up means of communication. ‘Their profits increase 
rapidly. The chief exports are oranges, oil and wine, while 
every kind of European produce is imported. It is hoped that 
considerable impulse to progress in Palestine and Syria will 
be caused by the Anatolian railway, which, when completed, 
will serve as a connection between the countries near the 
Euphrates and those of the West. 


9. INHABITANTS BEFORE THE ISRAELITES 


Before God’s chosen people settled in Palestine, the land had 
already had Semitic and afterwards Chamitic inhabitants. Tribes 
of Chanaanite origin had come into the country possibly from 
the northwest, but more probably from the east, and had mingled 
with the earlier Semitic population and had adopted its lan- 
guage and lost their own. Abraham and his descendants like- 
wise lost their Aramaic dialect and acquired that of the country, 
which on their account was designated Hebrew. 

To the old Semitic inhabitants of Palestine belonged the 
following tribes: (1) the Pherezites, mentioned in Gen. xiii. 7, 
as living near Bethel; (2) the Raphaites (Rephavm = giants), in 
the district east of the Jordan (Gen. xiv. 5); (3) the Enakites 
(Anaqium = long-necked), who were also men of great stature, 
living near Hebron in the south. They were to a great extent 
exterminated by Josue (Num. xiii. 22, 28; Jos. xi. 21); (4) 
the Hevites or Avvites (‘Avuvim, Deut. 11. 23), who came into 
conflict with the Philistines and were subdued by them. They 
seem not to have been akin to the Philistines, but to have been 
of the same race as the Hevites of Chanaan (see p. 21); (5) 
the Kenites (qenim, Gen. xv. 19), who lived in the southeast, but 
now and then were in alliance with the Amalakites, whose 
lands lay still farther south (I Kings, xv. 6). ‘To the same race 
belonged the Rechabites, a small tribe who lived by breeding 


20 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


cattle (they are mentioned in Jeremias xxxy.), and also perhaps 
the Cenezites and the Cedmonites (Gen. xv. 19). Melchisedech, 
king of Salem, was undoubtedly a Semite, but his lineage is 
unknown. 

The greater part of the country, however, before the coming 
of the Israelites, was occupied by the Chanaanites, descendants 
of the fourth son of Cham. Chanaan had eleven sons (Gen. 
x. 15-18), and the tribes descended from six of them settled 
along the seacoast in the northwest. The Greeks called them 
Pheenicians from the color of their skin (godvxes, from doiné, 
reddish purple). The tribes descended from the other five 
sons settled in Palestine itself. They were: 

1. The Hethites, descended from Cheth, Chanaan’s second 
son. They lived in the south of the country. It was from 
them that Abraham bought a plot of land as a burial place 
(Gen. xxili.). Like the Amorites they spread over the Holy 
Land, and founded a great empire in the north, with two 
principal cities, Kades on the Orontes and Karkemisch on the 
Euphrates. The Hethites are compared as warriors with the 
Egyptians in IV Kings, vii. 6, and in early Egyptian records 
there is mention of wars between the Egyptians and the Heta 
or Hethites. Rameses II (about 1350), called by Herodotus 
Sesostris, was forced to ratify peace with them by marrying 
a Hethite princess. The Hethites were a source of danger to the 
Assyrians also, until Sargon took Karkemisch in 717, and 
destroyed their power. ‘That they were of Chanaanite origin 
is proved by their worshiping Baal and Astarte.? 

2. The Jebusites, descended from Jebus, Chanaan’s third 
son. They lived in and round Jerusalem, which was at that 
time called Jebus. 

3. The Amorites, descended from Amor, the fourth son, are 
mentioned as living in the south, near the Dead Sea, but they 
settled also far to the north, in the country east of the Jordan. 

4. The Gergesites were descended from Girgas, the fifth son 
of Chanaan; their abode is unknown. 


1 See Sayce, “ Fresh Light from Ancient Monuments,” pp. 96-99. It is 
possible that the Hethites ought to be identified with the Hyksos. Sayce, 
however, regards the Hyksos as Western Semites. 


CANAAN, 


AS DIVIDED AMONG 
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THE HOLY LAND a1 


5. The Hevites, descended from Chev, the sixth son, lived 
in the north, near Lebanon. 

Besides the Semitic and Chanaanite tribes, the Philistines 
had settled in the south, before the time of Abraham ;! they were 
a Chamitic people (Gen. x. 14; xx. 2, ete.) that had migrated 
from Kaphtor.? Their chief towns were Gaza, Asdod (Azotus), 
Ascalon, Gath and Accaron. 

All these tribes were governed by rules of their own; almost 
every district had a king. 


10. PALESTINE AS DIVIDED AMONG THE ISRAELITES 


When the Israelites entered the Promised Land under Josue, 
the previous inhabitants were either conquered or driven out, 
and some were exterminated by God’s command as a punishment 
for their sins. Then the country was divided among the twelve 
tribes as their possession. ‘The tribe of Levi, whose duty it 
was to attend to the worship of God, received no land, but the 
members of that tribe were distributed over the whole country 
and occupied forty-eight towns. The tribe of Joseph received 
two portions, as Ephraim and Manasses were adopted by Jacob 
(Gen. xlvii. 5). (1) The territory assigned to the tribe of 
Juda lay in the south. (2) Westward of it was that belonging 
to Simeon, the weakest of the tribes. (3) To the north of Juda 
lay Benjamin. (4) the tribe of Dan, that was very numerous, 
lived at first between Juda and the Philistines, but as its terri- 
tory was too small, and constant fighting was required for its 
defense, part of the tribe migrated northwards and settled near 
the town of Lais, which was thenceforth called Dan. (5) 
Ephraim, a large tribe, occupied the center of the country. 
(6) To the north of Ephraim dwelt half the tribe of Manasses, 


* In the Septuagint the name Philistine is rendered ’*AXdddvuXoz, 
strangers, so possibly it ought to be connected with the Ethiopian word 
falasa, to travel or wander. ‘“ Pheleschet” is therefore the strangers’ 
land, and if this be correct the Philistines did not belong to the origi- 
nal Semitic or Chanaanite population. 

* Kaphtor was a strip of coast to the east of the delta of the Nile. 
It must not be identified with Crete, nor with Cappadocia, as is done in 
the Septuagint and the Vulgate versions of Amos ix. 7. The Philistines 
certainly came from Egypt. 


22 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the other half having been left by Moses in the northern part of 
the country east of the Jordan. (7) The tribe of Issachar lived 
round the plain of Esdrelon. (8) The tribe of Zabulon settled 
to the west of the Lake of Genesareth. (9) The tribe of Aser 
lived near Mount Carmel. (10) Nephtali occupied the north- 
ernmost part of the country. (11) Ruben dwelt in the south 
of the district east of the Jordan, and (12) Gad in the north. 

In the period following the captivity this division of the 
country fell into disuse, as the majority of those who returned 
belonged to the tribe of Juda, and thenceforth the whole nation 
became known as Jews. 

At the time of our Lord, under the Roman government, the 
land west of the Jordan was divided into three parts; viz., 
Judwa, Samaria and Galilee. The country east of the Jordan 
was called Perea. 


11. DESCRIPTION OF PLACES 
I. Judea 


1. Jerusalem, formerly called Salem, then Jebus, then Adlia 
Capitolina (under the Roman Emperor Hadrian) and now El 
Kuds, the holy (its Mahometan name), is situated on an uneven 
slope, divided from northwest to southeast by a depression, 
which Josephus calls the Tyropceon, and surrounded by valleys 
on the north, south and west.? 


1 DWI = either “vision of peace” or “foundation of peace,” ac- 
cording to the derivation of jeru from a verb meaning “ to see” or from 
one meaning “to found.” In the hymn Celestis urbs Jerusalem, beata 
pacis visio the former derivation is accepted. The dual form seems to 
refer to the upper and lower cities. As early as 1400 B.c., in the cunei- 
form inscriptions of Tell el Amarna, the name of the town was Urusalem. 
The Assyrian form is Urusalimmu. 


* Upon two ridges of unequal height, 
That front each other, stands Jerusalem, 
Through which there runs a narrow vale, whose site 
Divides the town in two, and severs them. 
Three sides a steep ascent the town defends, 
But on the fourth you go, nor seem to rise, 
And this plain side, which toward the north extends, 
By loftiest ramparts more defended is. 
Torqu. Tasso, Jerus. Delivered, IIT, 55, trans. K. James. 




















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THE HOLY LAND 23 


The town originally did not extend beyond Mount Sion on 
the southwest, and consisted of the stronghold of Sion and the 
old city clustered about it. It was here that David dwelt. 
Solomon enlarged the town and built the Temple, which occupied 
a large area on the low hill called Moria, situated northeast 
of Sion and due north of Ophel.? 

After the captivity the second Temple was erected on the same 
site, and the restored city retained its former limits. Antiochus 
Hpiphanes built a fortress to the north of the Temple, on the 
Hill of Akra (II Mach. iv. 12), in order to dominate the Temple. 
Round this fortress a new quarter of the town gradually arose, 
and as it was on a lower level than Sion, it was known as the 
Lower City.? 

Herod I, who had a mania for building, effected great changes 
in the fortress of Sion, the Temple and Akra, which he called 
Antonia. It was here that our Saviour was brought before 


* Recent explorers have sought Mount Sion in the east of the city, 
though this is contrary to tradition, their reason being that we often 
read that the Lord dwelleth on Sion, and this must refer to the hill on 
which the Temple stood. The periodical entitled Das Hl. Land (Cologne, 
Oct. 1, 1896, p. 77) contains, however, the following important informa- 
tion: “ The most recent discovery in the topography of Jerusalem is that 
of the steps of the city of David. It is scarcely possible to doubt that 
these are the steps of the city mentioned in Nehemias iii. 15 and xii. 36. 
These newly discovered steps are on the southwest hill, not on the south- 
east, but where the former hill slopes down in an easterly direction 
towards the Tyropeon, on the west side of the valley. They could only 
lead up to the southwest hill. Hitherto about fifteen steps have been 
found. . . . The problem of Mount Sion is therefore approaching its solu- 
tion, and in all probability the traditional Sion will win the day, and the 
theory of the southeast hill will be proved erroneous.” — If we occasion- 
ally read that God dwelleth in Sion, Sion stands for Jerusalem, just as 
the Vatican often means Rome, and the Seine Paris. The name is also 
used figuratively for the theocratic Jerusalem. (The steps mentioned in 
Neh. xii. 36, can hardly be the same as those referred to in iii. 15, but 
were steps in the city wall.) Gatt, a missionary in Gaza, who knows 
Jerusalem very thoroughly, in a work on the hills of Jerusalem defends 
the traditional position of Sion, and Riickert does the same. In a recent 
work Gatt aims at justifying the traditional view and at establishing it 
more firmly. 

? According to Mommert (Topographie des alten Jerusalems, Leipz., 
1903), an upper and a lower city existed as early as the time of Josue. 
Mommert does not locate David’s stronghold in the upper city of Sion, 
but on the Hill of Akra, which he thinks was included with the upper 
city at a very early period under the general name of Sion. 


24 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Pilate, and from this place of His condemnation He carried 
the cross to the place of His execution outside the city.* 

To the north of this fortress, on the hill Bezetha and also 
to the west of it, a new quarter has gradually sprung up, called 
the suburb or new town. 


Jerusalem as it now is, situated in a barren, rocky region, has a deso- 
late and lifeless appearance, and makes a gloomy impression upon those 
who behold it. The words of Jeremias’ lamentation are even more ap- 
plicable now than they were after the Babylonian devastation: “ How 
doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! ” (Lam. i. 1.) The 
population has, however, increased rapidly in the last few years, and 
has risen from 20,000 to 66,000 (1905). Of these 45,000 are Jews, 8000 
Mahometans, 6000 Greeks (Orthodox Church), 2500 Latins, 950 Arme- 
nians, 800 Protestants, 250 Uniate Greeks, 150 Copts, 100 Abyssinians, 
100 Jacobite Syrians, 50 Uniate Syrians and a few Maronites. During 
the nineteenth century twelve Catholic churches and several chapels were 
built in Jerusalem, but of the thirty existing Catholic places of worship 
only three are of ancient origin; viz., the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, 
St. Anne’s, and the Grotto of the Agony; the rest have all been built 
since 1840. (The schismatie Greeks possess thirty-four churches and 
chapels, the Russians five, all newly built, and the Protestants four. 
Of. Das Hl. Land, 1897, p. 37.) Since 1892 there has been a railway con- 
necting Jerusalem with Jaffa. At the present time the still existing 
“ Pools of Solomon,” which he made to the south of Bethlehem, are being 
reconstructed so as to supply again the capital with water. The water- 
courses will follow the same lines as they did three thousand years ago, 


The following places in and near Jerusalem are familiar 
to us, as their names occur in Holy Scripture: 

(a) Golgotha, i.e. place of a skull (golgotha = golgoltha, the 
Aramaic form of the Hebrew word gulgoleth. The Evangelists 
translate the name as xpaviov torros = calvarie locus). The 
name is certainly not derived from skulls of executed male- 
factors. They would not have been allowed to le about, as 
contact with a corpse or any part of one caused legal uncleanness. 


* On this subject Father Barnabas Meistermann wrote a well-grounded 
argument in favor of the Catholic tradition regarding the holy places in 
Jerusalem. The same religious has written very careful monographs on 
the grave of Our Lady, on Thabor, Emmaus, Arimathea, and the home of 
John the Baptist (Ain = Karim St. John in the mountains). Several 
writers have attempted to prove that by Pilate’s Pretorium is meant, 
not the fortress Antonia, but Herod’s palace on Sion. If this were cor- 
rect, would not the tradition regarding the Way of the Cross have to be 
abandoned? 


THE HOLY LAND 25 


The spot must have borne some resemblance to a skull, and 
have been bare and somewhat raised. It was here that our 
Saviour redeemed us by His death on the Cross. At that time 
the place was outside the city, and, according to an unbroken 
tradition, lay to the northwest of it. After our Lord’s death 
Jerusalem was extended in this direction aud so Golgotha came 
to be included within the city wall. Hence the Church of the 
Holy Sepulcher, which contains the place of the Crucifixion, 
is now within Jerusalem.! 


From the point of view of accuracy the question may be asked whether, 
as our Lord was crucified “ without the gate” (Heb. xiii. 12; cf. Matt. 
xxvii. 33, John xix. 15), the city wall at that time included or excluded 
the site of the present church of the Holy Sepulcher. Three walls may 
be considered: 

(1) David’s wall, which only surrounded Sion, and this, according 
to tradition, was the western hill. 

(2) The wall of Ezechias and Manasses, restored by Nehemias after 
the Captivity, and still forming the city wall in our Lord’s time. It 
branched off from the earlier wall and surrounded the city on the west, 
north and east, terminating at the Temple. 

(3) Herod Agrippa’s wall, begun about 43 a.p. The second wall is 
the one that we have to consider. Those who defend the literal accuracy 
of the text maintain that it was possible and even probable for the place 
of crucifixion to have been outside this wall. Their opponents hold that 
the second wall must have enclosed the site of the church of the Holy 
Sepulcher, as Jerusalem was then very populous. The difficulty has now 
been solved, and the question decided in favor of the text. In 1883 re- 
mains of the second wall were discovered, showing quite plainly that it 
did not include the site of the church. (Keppler, Wanderungen, etc., 1m 
Oriente, 208.) 


(b) On the southern plateau of Mount Sion, outside the 
present Sion Gate and not far from the Christian cemeteries, 
is a huge building containing a mosque, in which, according 
to Mahometan tradition, King David is buried. There is proba- 
bly no truth in this tradition. 

Christians, on the other hand, assert that the room where 
the Last Supper was eaten used to be here, and tradition iden- 
tifies the place further with the room where our risen Saviour 


1 Mommert has proved beyond all question that Constantine’s basil- 
ica contained our Lord’s sepulcher, Golgotha with a church called the 
Martyrion on it, the chapel of Saint Helena and the Finding of the 
Cross. ' 


26 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


appeared to His Apostles in Jerusalem, and where the Holy 
Ghost came down upon them. Finally we are told that it was 
in this neighborhood that Mary, the mother of our Lord, lived 
and died, for which reason the space to the north of the above- 
mentioned building has been called the Dormitio b. M. V. It 
was acquired in the autumn of 1898 by the German Emperor 
William II, who presented it to the German Catholics, and a 
church and a Benedictine Monastery have been erected on this 
site.? 

It is certain that from the.very earliest times of Christianity 
until 1551 there was a church here, Sancta Sion, the original 
parent church of the world.? 

(c) The Mount of Olives (har hassethim), so called from 
the numerous olive trees with which it was formerly covered ; 
now only a few remain. It hes to the east of the town, about 
a quarter of an hour’s walk from it. 

(qd) Between the town and the Mount of Olives lies the 
Valley of Josaphat with the brook Cedron (Kidron). The name 
Josaphat (i.e. the Lord judgeth) seems to be very ancient, 
although its use cannot be actually traced farther back than 
to the time of Eusebius and Saint Jerome. The Cedron (i. e. the 
dark or cloudy) receives water only from rains; its source has 


1 The monastery was given over to the German Benedictines on March 
21, 1906; the church was opened in April, 1910. 

* Of sources of information regarding the history of this site we men- 
tion as very important the following: Diekamp, Hippolytos v. Theben, 
Miinster, 1898, p. 96, etc.; Zahn, Dormitio s. virginis u. das Haus des 
Joh. Marcus (Neue kirchl. Ztschr., X, 5); Lagrange, La dormition de la 
s. viérge et la maison de Jean-Marc, in the Revue biblique, 1899, 1V, 589. 
It may be assumed that the house of John Mark’s mother, where Peter 
took refuge (Acts xii. 12), is identical with the room of the Last Sup- 
per, the room where our Lord appeared to the Apostles, and the room 
where the Holy Ghost descended upon them; it is possible that Our 
Lady too sought shelter there. Nirschl opposes the theory, based on 
K. Emmerich’s visions, that Mary died and was buried in Ephesus. We 
may, however, very well believe that she joined Saint John there and re- 
mained there for some time, as is related in the visions of K. Emmerich. 
J. Niessen, in a work entitled Panagia Kapuli (Diilmen, 1906), upholds 
the unsatisfactory theory that Mary died at Ephesus. (Panagia Kapuli 
= the Gate of the B. Virgin, is a little house situated to the south of the 
ruins of Ephesus.) Bardenhewer and Ltibeck do not agree with Niessen 
on this point. 








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THE HOLY LAND a7 


long been dry. Its course begins near Jerusalem and its mouth 
is in the Dead Sea, but usually the river bed is quite dry. 

(e) Gethsemane (the oil-press) was a lonely farm on the 
western foot of the Mount of Olives, beyond the brook Cedron. 
Beside it was a garden, whither Jesus withdrew before His 
Passion. 

(f) The Valley of Hinnom is to the south of Jerusalem. 
The depression begins in the west and continues round Sion, 
terminating in the southeast at the village and spring of Siloa, 
and joining the Cedron Valley. It was here that the idolatrous 
Israelites once offered their children to Moloch. From the 
name gehinnom the word gehenna, hell, has been formed, and 
in later times the Jews, mindful of the fires of Moloch and 
the shrieks of the victims, applied the name of this abhorred 
spot to the place of suffering of the damned.* 

(g) On the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives lay the little 
villages of Bethphage (house of figs) and Bethany (beth ania 
== place of low ground), both familiar to us in the life of 
Christ. 

2. Bethlehem? This little town, the birthplace of David 
and of Christ, lies two hours’ journey to the south of Jerusalem, 
and is situated on the northern slope of a hill running east 
and west. The Grotto of the Nativity lies to the east, at a 
little distance from the town. Above it a church has been 
built, and there is a monastery near it. 


The latter is divided into three parts, one of which belongs to the 
Latins, one to the schismatic Greeks and the third to the Armenians. 
The Catholics have a little church of their own near their monastery, — 
it is dedicated to Saint Catherine and serves as a parish church.’ 


* Hinnom seems to have been the name of some man, perhaps a Jebu- 
site, as the designation ge bene Hinnom also occurs. Of. Vigouroux, 
Dict. 

2 i.e. house of bread, probably because much grain was grown in the 
neighborhood. 

$ This church was rebuilt in 1880, by the assistance of the Emperor 
of Austria, and it was consecrated on Aug. 18, 1882. In Bethlehem there 
are still some descendants of the Crusaders, who call themselves Vene- 
tians, and speak chiefly Italian. The Catholic community numbers 4000 
souls. The rest of the 8000 inhabitants of Bethlehem are Greeks, and a 
few Armenians and Mahometans. A very small part of the population 


28 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The Grotto of the Nativity and the large church dedicated 
to our Lady once belonged to the Catholics, but were seized 
by the Greeks, the church in 1758 and the Grotto in 1847.1 

3. Hebron (== fellowship) les in a beautiful mountainous 
region, six hours’ journey south of Bethlehem. ‘The town is 
well known from the history of Abraham and David. At the 
present time it has 10,000 inhabitants, who are almost all Ma- 
hometans. There is a mosque on the east of the town, contain- 
ing the graves of the patriarchs. An hour’s journey north of 
Hebron is the Valley Mambre, where Abraham dwelt for some 
time. 

4. On the southern boundary of Chanaan was the town of 
Beersabe (= seven springs), which is often mentioned in Holy 
Scripture. 

5. Jericho,2 a very ancient city of the kings of Chanaan. 
It lay seven hours’ journey to the east of Jerusalem, at some 
distance from the Jordan. Now it is deserted, and only ruins 
mark the site of the former city, and a tiny village called Riha 
reminds us of its name. 

6. Anathoth, the birthplace of the prophet Jeremias, was 
a priestly city, one and one-half hours’ journey north of 
Jerusalem. 

7. Rama, now Ram, lay three hours’ journey north of Jeru- 
salem. 

8. Bethel, now Beitun, the place where Jacob saw the ladder 
from heaven, is four and a half hours’ journey north of Jeru- 
salem. After the separation of the two realms it belonged to 
Samaria, and became one of the chief seats of idolatrous worship 
(cf. Amos vil.). 

9. Silo, a little north of Bethel, now a place of ruins called 


is Protestant; this denomination has a church and a school of its own. 
There are no Jews in Bethlehem. 

* The well-justified claims of Latin Christians upon the holy places 
are almost all jeopardized by attacks made by schismatics. On Nov. 4, 
1901, several Franciscans were severely injured in the Church of the 
Holy Sepulcher, as also happened on Jan. 22, 1907, in Saint Mary’s at 
Bethlehem. 

7 i.e. the fragrant (from 137), not the moon-city (from 1). The 
neighborhood of this town formerly abounded in fragrant plants, such as 
balsams and rose trees. 


THE HOLY LAND 29 


Seilun, was the resting place of the Tabernacle at the time of 
the Judges. 

10. Hmmaus (see Luke xxiv. 13). It is now a village called 
Kubeibeh, and is situated 60 furlongs (three hours’ journey) 
to the northwest of Jerusalem.* 

11. Lydda, now Ludd, is mentioned in Acts ix. 33. It is 
believed to have been the birthplace of Saint Georgius, and les 
ten hours’ journey westward of Jerusalem. Near it is Ramle, 
which tradition identifies with Arimathea, although many people 
believe Rama near Jerusalem to be Arimathea.? 

12. Joppe or Jaffa, a town on the Mediterranean; the place 
where Jonas took ship in order to flee to Tharsis. The town 
has 45,000 inhabitants, and is still, as it was in the Middle 
Ages, the usual landing place for pilgrims, although the stormy 
sea and the sunken rocks make the harbor -unsafe. 


* The name = chammath, to be hot, is equivalent to Therme. The 
district was formerly rich in springs. The Franciscans now have a 
church and a friary, and the German Holy Land Society has acquired 
some property there. Kubeibeh or Kubebe is, according to Haneberg’s 
Archdologie, to be identified with Gabeon, frequently mentioned in the 
Old Testament, but its position is disputed. The above statement is 
based upon a tradition that goes back to the time of the Crusades. 
The Franciscans believe Kubeibeh to be the Emmaus mentioned by Saint 
Luke, and so do various other writers; but there are several other opin- 
ions on the subject. Some identify Emmaus with the present Amwas on 
the plain to the east of Jaffa. Eusebius and Saint Jerome both say that 
this place, which is also called Nicopolis, was the Emmaus of the Bible. 
It is, however, too far from Jerusalem, being at a distance of 176 fur- 
longs, or nearly nine hours’ journey, and so it cannot be reconciled with 
Saint Luke’s account. Sepp thinks that the present Kulonieh (Colonia), 
about 30 furlongs from Jerusalem on the way to Jaffa, may have been 
Emmaus, but there is no tradition supporting this theory, and Kulonieh 
is too near. The Greeks believe Abu-Gosch, the ancient Kariathiarim, 
60 furlongs from Jerusalem, to be Emmaus, but this view also is unsup- 
ported by tradition. 

The Codex Sin. reads in Luke xxiy. 16, 160 furlongs, and not 60. 
Tischendorf and others regard this as an intentional alteration. After 
careful observations and personal investigations in Palestine, Belser has 
pronounced himself opposed to the Nicopolis theory, and in favor of 
Kubeibeh, chiefly on account of its distance from Jerusalem. The reason 
why Eusebius and Saint Jerome preferred Nicopolis is probably that in 
their time Emmaus-Kubeibeh was destroyed, devastated and forgotten. 
Cf., however, Knabenbauer, Comm. in Luc., p. 632. 

2 Ever since 1296 the Franciscans have had a mission at Ramle; in 
1902 their chapel was transformed into a beautiful church. 


380 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


II. Samaria 


The central portion of Palestine derives its name from the 
town that was once the capital of the northern kingdom. 

1. Samaria (Hebr. schomron, Gk. Zapapeca and afterwards 
LeRSaoryn, which name is still retained, though the natives pro- 
nounce it Usbuste). The town was built by Omri, king of the 
northern State, about the year 930 B.c. It was situated on a 
hill which the king had bought from a certain Schemer, called 
in the Septuagint Leusp, and in the Vulgate Somer (III 
Kings xvi. 24). It remained the capital for two hundred years, 
but was destroyed in 722, though subsequently rebuilt. Herod I 
enlarged it, and gave it the name of Sebaste in honor of the 
Emperor Augustus." 

At the present time it is only a village with 500 inhabitants. 
Among the ruins of the old town those of the Church of St. 
John the Baptist are conspicuous. According to tradition his 
body was buried here. Thirza (i.e. grace), which served for 
a short time as a royal residence, may have been in the neigh- 
borhood ; perhaps it should be identified with the modern Tejazir, 
thirteen miles northeast of Sichem. 

2. Sichem (Hebr. schekem = ridge or stretch of land) was 
the central point of the Holy Land, and lay fourteen hours’ 
journey north of Jerusalem, between the hills Garizim and Ebal, 
the former being to the south, the latter to the north of the 
town. Sichem is mentioned as early as the time of Abraham 
and Jacob. After the division of the kingdoms, Sichem was 
the residence of the kings of the northern State. In Apostolic 
times it was generally called Neapolis, the new city, probably 
because it had been almost completely rebuilt under Vespasian. 
The modern name Nablus comes from Neapolis. The town now 
contains 25,000 Mahometan inhabitants. A small body of 
Samaritans, about 200 in number, still live at the foot of 
Garizim. 

3. Cesarea, situated on the west coast, and therefore known 


1 geBaorn = augusta; cé8w, oéBouar = to honor; oceBacrds = honored, 
honorable = augustus. 


THE HOLY LAND 31 


as Maritima, to distinguish it from Casarea Philippi, was built 
by Herod I, and raised by Augustus to the dignity of an imperial 
city. In Roman times the procurator of the province generally 
lived here. Saint Paul was a prisoner here for two years. Aiter 
the destruction of Jerusalem, Cxesarea was regarded as the capital, 
and very early became a bishop’s see. In the eighteenth century 
some part of the town was still inhabited, but now it all lies in 
ruins. 


Iil. Galilee 


In the north of Chanaan the Israelites lived in the midst of 
pagans, and hence this part of the country received the name 
gelil haggojim=the heathen district, in Greek TaduAala 
tav eOvav, or simply TadAala (Is. vili. 23; I Mach. v. 15; 
Matt. iv. 15). Its chief towns were: 

1. Nazareth (from nezer, flower, hence Nazareth —city of 
flowers) is never mentioned in the Old Testament. It lies on 
a hill in southern Galilee, six hours’ journey southwest of the 
Lake of Genesareth. From very early times pilgrims have 
visited Nazareth, and it soon possessed several churches, and 
was a bishop’s see in the Middle Ages. Since the fourteenth 
century the little town has been decaying. In 1620 the Fran- 
ciscans restored the Church of the Annunciation,’ and in 1720 
a friary, and then some other houses, arose from the ruins. 
Nazareth has now 11,000 inhabitants, mostly Catholics. 

2. The little town of Naim, now scarcely more than a village, 
lay three hours’ journey southeast of Nazareth. 

3. Cana, now a village with 600 inhabitants, and known as 


1 The casa santa, or house of the Holy Family, is venerated at Loreto 
in Italy. According to the legend it was brought to the west in 1291, 
first to Dalmatia, and in 1395 to Loreto. A basilica has been built over 
it. Many people have doubted whether it is genuine; the following are 
the reasons for believing it to be so: (a) By permission of Pope Pius 
IX in 1861 the Roman antiquarian Bartolini caused some stone and 
mortar from the casa santa, and also some from the foundations of the 
house at Nazareth, to be chemically examined, and they proved to be 
exactly similar, whereas such stone and mortar are not used in Italy. 
(b) In Kresser’s work, Nazareth, ein Zeuge fiir Loreto (Graz, 1908), evi- 
dence is adduced to show that the house of the Holy Family was in 
Nazareth until 1291, but vanished after that date. (c) Father Poisat, 
S.J., in the Univers, 1907. 


32 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Kefr-Kana, is an hour and a half’s journey north of Nazareth. 
This village, rather than the more distant Kana-Eldschelil, 
ought to be regarded as the place where our Lord wrought His 
first miracle. It is believed to have been the birthplace of 
Saint Bartholomew the Apostle. 

4. On the west coast of the Lake of Genesareth is the city 
of Tiberias, built by Herod Antipas and named after the 
Emperor Tiberius. It is now called Tubarich, and contains 
8000 inhabitants of various creeds. 

5. Not far away, and also*on the west coast of the lake, 
was the village of Magdala, now Medschdel, which is thought 
to have been the birthplace of Saint Mary Magdalen. 

6. Also in the same neighborhood was Bethsaida, the home 
of several of the apostles, but it cannot now be identified. 
Another Bethsaida with the additional name Julias (’Iovd/as, 
-ados, after the daughter of Augustus), lay on the northeast 
shore of the lake. The feeding of the five thousand took place 
near there.” 

7. Capharnaum, our Saviour’s favorite town, was on the north- 
west shore of the lake. In Saint Jerome’s time it was still 
a town, though decaying. In the sixteenth century it was a 
heap of ruins, and now every trace of it has disappeared, so 
that its very site is a matter of discussion (cf. Matt. xi. 23).° 


IV. The Country East of the Jordan 


The southern part of the region east of the Jordan was for- 
merly called Galaad or Gilead, and the northern part Basan; 
but at the time of our Lord the whole province was known as 


* Sepp follows the Onomasticon of Eusebius in regarding Kana-Galil, 
four hours’ journey north of Nazareth, as the scene of our Lord’s first 
miracle. This is a mistake, for tradition always pointed to Kefr-Kana. 
Cf. Josue xix. 28. 

? Sepp and Guthe think the Bethsaida on the northeast shore was the 
only town of that name, but they have many opponents. 

* Most authorities regard the ruins at Tell-Hum (Sepp derives this 
name from reAwviov, place of tribute) as marking the site of the ancient 
Capharnaum. Sepp prefers to identify it with Chan-Minieh, which lies 
farther south, not far from Medschdel, although he thus is at variance 
with the old pilgrims’ reports and with Josephus. 


THE HOLY LAND 33 


Perwa, i. e. the land beyond, wépay rod ‘Topdavov. At that period 
it was divided into three portions: (1) In the north were the five 
districts known as Gaulonitis, Iturea, Auranitis, Trachonitis 
and Batanza, these being the Greek forms of the Semitic names 
Golan, Jethur, Hauran, Trachona and Basan. (2) In the center 
eight towns, viz. Philadelphia (Rabbath Ammon), Raphana, 
Gerasa, Duim, Pella, Scythopolis, Gadara and Hippus, had 
formed a league with the more distant cities of Kanatha and 
Damascus, so that the Evangelists speak of the region as 
Decapolis, i.e. the ten cities. (3) The southern portion was 
Perea in the narrower sense of the word, and, together with 
Galilee, was governed by Herod Antipas. 

The best known towns in this country are: 

1. Cesarea Philippi in the north, originally called Paneas, so 
named from a cave in the neighborhood dedicated to the god 
Pan. The town was enlarged by Philip the Tetrarch and named 
Cesarea, with flattering reference to Augustus. A mere hamlet 
known as Banias now stands on the site of the former city. 

2. Gerasa, now Dscherasch, and Rabbath Ammon (= Phila- 
delphia), now Amman, are situated farther south, in what was 
once Decapolis. 

3. Hesebon, a very ancient royal city, lay opposite to Jericho, 
not far from the Jordan. 

4. Still farther south, near the Dead Sea, was the fortress 
Macherus, in which, according to Josephus Flavius, John the 
Baptist was put to death (Jos. Fl., Antig., XVIII). Near it 
was Callirrhoe, a place with hot springs, where Herod I, towards 
the end of his life, vainly sought a cure for his disease. 

5. Dibon, on the plain north of the Arnon, was sometimes 
claimed by the tribe of Gad and sometimes by that of Ruben. 
It is now in ruins, but is occasionally mentioned because one 
of the earliest Hebrew monuments, a triumphal column of King 
Mesa of Moab, dating from 896 B.c., was discovered here in 
1868. 


This column is 1.13 meters in height, 0.7 meters in breadth and con- 
firms the statements contained in IV Kings iii. 4, ete. It was first seen 
by Klein, a German missionary. In 1869 Clermont-Ganneau, a French- 
man, took a cast of it. After that, the Bedouins broke the stone, but the 


34 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


black basalt is so extremely hard that it was possible to collect the 
fragments and convey them to Paris, where they are preserved in the 
Louvre. 


6. Madaba, thirteen miles east of the north end of the Dead 
Sea, was generally reckoned as belonging to the land of Moab, 
but in Josue xii. 9 and 16 it is ascribed to the tribe of Ruben. 
Later on it became a bishop’s see and contained several churches. 


This town long lay desolate, but is now again inhabited by 800 schis- 
maties and 400 Latin Christians. During the process of rebuilding a 
Greek church, among the ruins of an ancient basilica, a mosaic map of the 
Holy Land was discovered, dating from the sixth century a.p. It origi- 
nally covered the whole floor of the basilica from wall to wall, and was 
a most important find. Of. Revue biblique, 1897, II, 165. 


It is quite possible that, as the prophecies seem to suggest, Palestine 
is destined to play an important part in the salvation of mankind. It 
seems to exert a wonderful attraction, not only upon many Jews, but 
also upon Christian nations, who are drawn towards this cradle of Juda- 
ism and Christianity. From east and west, Asiatics, Europeans, and 
Americans; Armenians, Copts, Greeks, Russians, and Latins; Catho- 
lies and Protestants, — all are eager to acquire settlements in the Holy 
Land. The most energetic in this respect are the Russians, who far sur- 
pass all other nations in the number of pilgrims who yearly visit the 
Holy Land, and also in founding schools and other establishments, espe- 
cially in the northwest of Jerusalem. There can be no doubt that their 
zeal is aimed against Rome. 


SECOND PART 


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THE HOLY PEOPLE 
BIBLICAL ARCHAOLOGY 


A. OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL 


1. TRADITIONAL AND MoprerRN ACCOUNTS OF THE HISTORY 
OF ISRAEL 


A. Traditional Account 


HE people of Israel are descended from the Patriarchs 

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham, the founder of 
the race, was born at Ur in Chaldea, and with his whole family he 
migrated to Haran in Mesopotamia, where his father Thare 
(Terach) died. Being a worshiper of the one true God, he 
left Haran, which was an idolatrous city, and about the year 
2080 B. c. betook himself with Lot, his nephew, to Chanaan. Lot 
parted from him and became the ancestor of the Ammonites and. 
the Moabites. Abraham had several sons, who founded various 
tribes of Arabs; viz. Ismael, son of the Egyptian woman Agar, 
and the twelve sons of Ketura; but by his first wife, Sara, 
Abraham had only one son, Isaac. God made a covenant with 
him for the preservation of the true religion among his descend- 
ants, and for the eventual redemption of mankind by means 
of a Saviour to be born of his line. The two sons of Isaac, 
Esau and Jacob, founded the nations of the Edomites and 
the Israelites respectively. Through the action of Joseph, one 
of Jacob’s twelve sons, the families of Israelites went to Egypt 
before 1800 B. c. and remained there a considerable time, becom- 
ing very numerous. Being oppressed, they were led back out 
of Egypt by Moses, and lived for many years as nomads in 
Arabia. They received the divine law on Sinai, and concluded 
a covenant with Yahweh, whereby they became the chosen 
people of the one true God, chosen to receive His revelations, 
thus being raised above all other nations. 


388 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Finally they entered the Promised Land from the east, and 
expelled the earlier inhabitants or subjugated them, extermi- 
nating some as a punishment for their sins. Thenceforth they 
lived under the rule of judges, until Saul, of the tribe of Benja- 
min, was made their king. He was succeeded by David, of the 
tribe of Juda, and David by his son Solomon. During the 
reign of Roboam, Solomon’s son and successor, ten tribes fell 
away from David’s dynasty and founded another kingdom in 
the north, in Samaria, with kings of their own. This northern 
kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.c. and the 
majority of its inhabitants were carried off to Assyria. One 
hundred and thirty-four years later the southern kingdom with 
Jerusalem, the capital, was plundered by the Babylonians 
(588 B.c.), the magnificent temple was destroyed, and the in- 
habitants were taken in captivity to Babylon. When the Persians 
took this city in 538 B. c., the Jews were allowed to return home, 
but not all availed themselves of this permission. 

Those who returned rebuilt the Temple, and gradually re- 
gained their national and religious self-confidence. Two men 
in particular, Esdras and Nehemias, did very much to restore 
a settled state of affairs; Esdras induced the people to renew 
the covenant with God on the basis of the Mosaic law; Nehemias 
attended to the revival of the external political order. After the 
fall of the Persian Empire the Jews became dependent first 
upon the Egyptian Ptolemies, and then upon the Syrian 
Seleucid. In the second century before Christ they recovered 
their freedom after a severe struggle, and thenceforth had kings 
of their own nation. After 64 B.c. they gradually became sub- 
ject to the Romans, who in the year 70 A. p. destroyed Jerusalem 
and put an end to the existence of the Jewish State. Since that 
time the people of Israel have been scattered all over the world, 
but have nevertheless preserved the purity of their race almost 
unimpaired throughout this long period. The present number 
of Jews is about eleven millions.’ 

1 The history, religion, literature and customs of the Jewish people, 
from the earliest times to the present day, have been discussed very fully 
in the “ Jewish Encyclopedia ” in twelve volumes, published in New York 


and London, 1901-1906; 605 writers, mostly Jews, contributed to the 
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THE HOLY PEOPLE 39 


B. Modern Account of the History of Israel 


Rationalistic criticism accepts the foregoing account of the 
history of Israel only partially. According to it, no nation knows 
anything of the founder of its race, and therefore the stories of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their immediate descendants, 
as recorded in Scripture, is to be regarded as purely mythical 
and devoid of historical truth. 

Owing to the absence of Egyptian testimony it is disputed 
whether all or any of the Israelite tribes ever lived in 


Egypt.’ 

Moses is to be recognized as an historical person, who in- 
structed the Israelites in the worship of one God, Yahweh, who 
was especially adored on Sinai. This god “ Yahweh was not 
originally the universal deity, becoming later the God of Israel; 
but he was primarily the God of Israel, and much later became 
God of the whole world” (Wellhausen). It is possible that 
Moses wrote something, but it cannot be proved; in any case, 
the Thora, as we now have it in five books, cannot have been 
compiled by him. The cultus, however, which was connected 
with the portable Ark of the Covenant, and in some degree the 


1 This is an arbitrary assumption, arising from the denial of the 
supernatural, and of the character of Israel as the people of revelation. 
The only nation which clung to the true God was not permitted to mix 
with other races; those who belonged to the kingdom of God could not 
be permitted to mingle with the subjects of worldly rulers. Therefore 
this particular nation of necessity had to know the founders of its race, 
and the sacred records carefully preserved the genealogies and handed 
them down unaltered. After the Captivity those Israelites who could prove 
their descent were clearly distinguished from those unable to do so, and 
the latter could not enjoy the full privileges of citizenship (I Esdras ii. 
59, 60). It made a vast difference who belonged to the line inheriting 
the blessing, and who did not. Other nations perhaps know nothing of 
their ancestry, but Israel is not like other nations. The name of Abram 
is actually found on early Babylonian contract tablets, and the position 
of Ur, his home, now Mugheir on the Euphrates, has been discovered 
(Sayce, “ Records of the Past”). Further details will be found in Dorn- 
stetter’s work, “ Abraham,” 1901. In it excellent reasons are given for 
opposing the attempt to relegate the story of Abraham to the sphere of 
legend. 

? Spiegelberg’s investigation, however, comfirms the traditional ac- 
count of the history of Israel. 


40 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Thora, i.e. the administration of justice, which was bound 
up with the cultus, both have come down to us from Moses. 
The Thora was one of the chief supports of the national life. 
A priest on Sinai, said by tradition to have been Moses’ father- 
in-law, took an important part in the work of composing it. 
After leaving the peninsula of Sinai, Israel migrated to the 
country east of the Jordan, but the date and the route of this 
migration are unknown. As the population increased, it over- 
flowed into the district west of the river, migrating first after 
the fashion of Bedouins, i.e. making small but frequent inroads 
upon the territory of the Chanaanites, but in course of time 
forming permanent settlements. It is impossible to believe in 
a rapid conquest of Chanaan by force of arms under Josue’s com- 
mand; probably the Israelites and the Chanaanites often lived 
peaceably together, as is implied in Judges i. From the 
Chanaanites, who were superior to the Israelites in civilization, 
the immigrants adopted many outward forms of civilized life, 
and recognized their holy places and chief festivals. Through 
amalgamating with the Chanaanites and other tribes, the Israel- 
ites became an agricultural nation — and it is at this point that 
their real history begins. The reigns of Saul, David and Solomon 
are all historical, and so is the separation of the kingdom into 
two parts, Samaria and Juda, and the destruction of these king- 
doms by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The Captivity is 
also an historical fact; a small remnant of Jews returned from 
Babylon, and it was not until then that the books professing to 
be historical, as we know them, were composed. 

These books are: First, the Pentateuch, which is believed to 
have been compiled from various older sources, viz. (1) a Yahvis- 
tic and (2) an Elohistic history, so called from the use of the 
names. Yahweh and Elohim to designate God. he former 
work perhaps dates from about 800 B. c., and was written in the 
southern kingdom; the latter is of the same date, but was written 
in the north; (3) the Deuteronomium, consisting of the original 
Deuteronomium (chapters xii.-xxvi.), written in 623 B.o. and 
some later additions; (4) the “ priests’ code,” written about 
500 B.c. in’ Babylon, and containing regulations for offering 
sacrifices, purification, etc. (1. e. especially the present book of 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 41 


Leviticus). ‘The second class of books contains Josue, Judges, 
Samuel, Kings and Ruth; in the compilation of all of these use 
was made of earlier records. The Psalms too, and all the other 
books, but more particularly the so-called writings of Solomon, 
. belong to the period after the Captivity, and nothing remains 
that can be ascribed to an earlier date except some of the pro- 
phetic works, which go back to about 800 B. c. 


2. RESULTS 


If these theories are correct, then we must conclude: 

1. That the Israelite priests, who (IV Kings xxi. 8, etc.) in 
623 B. c. under King Josias (Stade, I, 642) are said to have com- 
piled the Law of Moses, or, as Stade calls it, “the Book of Doc- 
trine” (1. e., according to modern criticism, Deut. xii.—xxvi.), and 
especially Helcias the priest, who “found” it in the temple and 
pointed it out to the king as the work of Moses, were all liars 
and forgers. Josias, the king, and the whole nation would in 
that case have been deceived by a very clumsy forgery, quite 
easy of detection ; 

2. That Esdras and Nehemias, who, after the Captivity, 
strove to revive the national spirit on the ground of the Mosaic 
Law, “ which the Lord God had given to Israel” (Esdras vii. 6), 
and to renew the covenant between God and His people 
(Nehem. vii. 1, etc.), were hkewise liars and forgers (Stade, I, 
16), and the Israelites of that time were deceived, as a recently 
composed work was read to them and expounded as the Law of 
Moses, and they were credulous enough to accept it without 
question ; 

3. That the whole of Judaism and Christianity based upon 
it are the outcome of repeated acts of deception and not of 
divine revelation ; 

4, That Jesus Christ Himself, who speaks of Abraham as the 
founder of the race, of Moses as a writer, and of David as a 
Psalmist, was Himself ignorant, and therefore could not be 
God. 


42 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


38. GENERAL REFUTATION 


The theories just stated have already won so much popularity 
among non-Catholic theologians that an adherent of the old 
traditional doctrine is assumed by them to have no place in the 
ranks of scholars. The recognition of the post-Captivity origin 
of the Pentateuch is extolled as one of the most brilliant results 
of scientific research. It is admitted that for the present these 
results of “science” cannot be communicated to the general 
public nor to the young (Stade; I, 11). ‘ Whether the material 
employed be really historical need not be considered ” in teach- 
ing “ what is called Bible history, . . . which aims at edification 
and appeals to children.” But the “scientific statements are 
meant for adults, who strive solely after truth and the whole 
truth.” * But let us examine the value of this “ truth.” 

1. The attempts to give a natural explanation for everything 
and to deny the occurrence of all supernatural intervention of 
xod in human affairs, and especially in the fortunes of the 
people of Israel, are in direct opposition to any conception of 
God as the almighty, omniscient and all-good personal Being, 
who does not allow Himself to be completely cut off from His 
creatures. ‘These attempts lead, therefore, to Pantheism and 
Atheism. 

2. According to modern criticism the Hebrew race was 
originally as polytheistic as any other nation; it is true that 
from the time of Moses onwards Yahweh was regarded as their 
deity, but Yahweh was in no respect superior to Baal of the 
Phoenicians, Kemosch of the Ammonites, or Milkom of the 
Moabites. Every nation had its own particular god, and so 
had Israel. Modern critics, like the Moabites of old, say, “ Be- 
hold, the house of Juda is like all other nations” (Hzech. xxv. 8). 
They maintain that the ancient Jews enjoyed no exclusive 
position in their relation to God; the existence of other gods 
was recognized as well as that of Yahweh; Monotheism de- 

1 Smith, G. A., “ Modern Criticism and the Preaching of the Old Testa- 
ment,” London, 1901, tries to show that the results of modern criticism 


can very well be used in preaching; that what is important is not names, 
but the inward reality and types of character. 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 43 


veloped gradually, and then Yahweh was regarded as the sole 
ruler, not of Israel alone, but of all nations and lands. -The 
prophets called monotheism into existence, and after the Cap- 
tivity it won universal acceptance among the Jews, Yahweh 
being exalted above all other gods. 

But how is it that other nations did not ascribe to their gods 
any omnipotence or universal dominion, any lordship over hu- 
manity as a whole? How can we account for the fact that the 
insignificant little nation of Israel alone attained to this clear 
view of God? The Jews were not on a level with greater races, 
such as the Greeks and Romans, in point of civilization or 
political life, — how could this people not only evolve the idea 
of there being one supreme God, but cause their worship of this 
one God to penetrate and influence the whole of their political, 
religious and social life? 

Israel’s monotheism is inexplicable unless it was an inher- 
itance (often too lightly esteemed) from remote ages and based 
upon revelation.* 

3. The strongest evidence against these theories is supplied 
by the origin, growth? and permanence of Christianity, which, 
had it been of human origin, would long ago have been de- 
stroyed by its bitter foes, so that its continued existence is a 
proof that it is the work of God. “If... this work,” said 
Gamaliel, “be of men, it will come to nought; but if it be 
of God, you cannot overthrow it” (Acts v. 38, 39). 

With its fixed and exalted doctrines and institutions, Chris- 


? That the Israelites’ religion was monotheistic before the Captivity is 
proved by Dr. J. Nikel in his work entitled Der Monotheismus Israels in 
der vorewvilischen Zeit (Paderborn, 1893).— Recent excavations in the 
neighborhood of the Euphrates do not support but overthrow the theory 
that Israel adopted monotheism at a comparatively late period, in con- 
sequence of studying the records of the Babylonians. All their monu- 
ments show that the Babylonian religion was polytheistic. How should 
Israel alone, amidst a number of heathen nations, have actually become 
monotheistic? 

? Mommsen’s “ Roman History ” was intended to fill five volumes; of 
these, one, two and three appeared, and then five; the fourth volume is 
missing. When Mommsen was asked to account for this, he replied that 
he could not understand the period with which he had meant to deal in 
the fourth volume —it was to him inexplicable how Christianity had 
suddenly appeared in the world, spread all over it and transformed it. 


33 





44 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


tianity has bestowed upon the nations who received it both 
the highest civilization and supremacy in the world, it has 
inspired many individuals to make heroic sacrifices, it has 
formed the noblest characters and has brought untold multi- 
tudes to happiness. 

4. It is inconceivable that a nation, settled in the midst 
of the civilized peoples of antiquity, should have remained for 
centuries without a literature. The Egyptians were very fond 
of writing and have bequeathed to us a vast literature, going 
back more than 3000 years before Christ. Scarcely less abun- 
dant is the very ancient literature of the countries bordering 
on the Euphrates, which has recently been discovered. ‘The 
Pheenicians, the nearest neighbors of the Israelites, are believed 
to have taught the Greeks the art of writing with. letters of the 
alphabet, and they certainly did this before 1200 B.c., at which 
period the Greek tribes were already strong enough to carry 
the T'rojan War to a successful end. And yet the Israelites 
are supposed to have produced no literature before the year 800, 
if (as Reuss, p. 76, and his followers assume) “ the prophets are 
older than the Law, and the Psalms of later date than both 
Law and prophets.” It is true that the Israelites did not use 
for writing materials either the papyrus of Egypt or the clay 
tablets of Babylon and Ninive, but, as beseemed a_ pastoral 
people, they employed the prepared skins of animals, and occa- 
sionally tablets of stone. 

5. Neither Jewish nor Christian tradition knows anything 
of an Israelite law laid down after the Captivity, but they both 
acknowledge a law of Mosaic origin. Whoever completely aban- 
dons tradition, and interprets Holy Scripture without reference 
to it, often in accordance with preconceived opinions, arbitrarily 
invents a history of Israel, and builds on an insecure foundation. 

6. It is impossible that an entire nation should allow itself 
to be deceived with books that made very serious demands upon 
it, contained severe censures, and even threatened its rejection. 
If the Jews had composed such books, they would perhaps have 
revealed and proclaimed to the whole world the honor and glory 
of their nation, but not its shame. (Just as Christians would 
not have submitted to the obligation of Confession, but would 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 45 


have resisted it, had it been imposed, as some maintain, by the 
Fourth Lateran Council, and not inherited from Christ and 
the Apostles, so the Jews would certainly not have submitted 
to the yoke of the law, unless the law had been given by God 
through Moses.) 

7. The mightiest nations known to history, such as the 
Assyrians, Babylonians and Phoenicians, have disappeared in 
course of time, or have long ceased to play any part in the 
affairs of the world; the descendants of the ancient Egyptians 
and Greeks are now obscure —but the small Jewish nation, 
although so constantly hated, persecuted and despised, still 
survives, and, scattered amongst all peoples, exercises a great 
influence. This permanence of the Israelite race, neither in- 
creasing nor diminishing in numbers,’ is inexplicable, unless we 
acknowledge that the Israelites were chosen and set apart, 
were rejected and yet preserved to the end of time to fulfill the 
final purpose of God, — in short, unless we recognize their char- 
acter as the people of the revelation. 


4, REFUTATION FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT 


The preceding arguments are quite enough to demolish the 
fancies devised by spurious scholarship; but it is easy to 
quote facts mentioned in the Old Testament which will show 
the groundless character of the rationalistic assertions that 
we have mentioned. If it can be proved that the Pentateuch 
existed long before the time of Esdras or of Josias, and was 
regarded as the work of Moses, then the bold speculations of 
modern criticism are at once overthrown. Let us now undertake 
to prove it. 

We may begin by referring to the Book of Judges, in which 


1 Cf. Ezech. xii. 16. “I will leave a few men of them... that they 
may declare all their wicked deeds among the nations whither they shall 
go.” Chateaubriand, in his “ Journey from Paris to Jerusalem,” remarks 
that the Persians, Greeks and Romans have vanished from the face of 
the earth, whilst a little nation, whose origin is far more ancient than 
the time when these great nations appeared, still lives on, keeping its 
race pure. If anything among the nations of the earth bears the stamp 
of the miraculous, it is the case with these people. 


46 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


(vill. 147) the art of writing is spoken of as something quite 
familar and commonplace. The Judge Gedeon, long before 
the time of the kings, took a young man from Soccoth, who had 
to write down for him the chiefs and the principal inhabitants 
of Soccoth, in all 7% men. According to Kautzsch and Cornill 
this passage forms part of one of the oldest historical portions 
of the Old Testament. All critics acknowledge as genuine the 
letter written by David and sent through Urias (II Kings xi. 14) ; 
it shows that in the year 1000 B.c. reading and writing were 
quite common. ‘These are only indirect testimonies, but they 
show that it is possible that the Pentateuch existed long before 
the time of the prophets Amos, Osee, etc. We can, however, 
derive much more evidence than this from the Old Testament. 


I. The Original Deuteronomium 


Let us begin by asking what we are to understand by “ the 
book of the law” or, as Stade calls it, the “book of doctrine,” 
found in the reign of Josias (IV Kings xxi. 8, etc.) which the 
priests are supposed to have forged. Did it really consist only, 
as is suggested, of fragments of Deuteronomy (especially chap- 
ters xll.—xxvi.), or was it the whole law? 

1. Immediately after its discovery the book is described as 
one familiar to all, but hidden away during the time of idola- 
trous worship. Helcias does not say that he has found a strange 
book, hitherto unknown, but “I have found the book of the 
law (sepher hattora) in the house of the Lord.” It was not 
indeed the original manuscript written by Moses, but a later 
copy, which could be read at once without any difficulty. Never- 
theless, it was the “ book of the (Mosaic) law.” ? 


1 The word “ describe,” as will be seen from the context, must be 
taken in its derivative sense, meaning ‘‘ to write down.” 

* We need not of course assume that every word and sentence in the 
Pentateuch have come down to us from Moses. The work has no doubt 
been revised, and additions have been made, and it must have been fre- 
quently copied, and the language modified to suit the changes in the 
speech of the people. The same kind of alterations have been made in our 
prayers and popular books. Saint Jerome even declared that Moses 
might be regarded as the author, but Esdras as the instaurator of the 
book; but long before Esdras lived many additions must have been 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 4” 


2. King Josias had not been well instructed in the law 
during his youth, as idolatry prevailed everywhere. For this 
reason he was astonished and shocked at the contents of the 
book, after its discovery, and modern criticism regards this as 
a proof that the book was altogether new. He must, however, 
have known of the law by hearsay, as he at once realized his 
position; and the chief outlines of the law must have been 
known to him, as, even before the book was found, in the twelfth 
year of his reign (II Chron. xxxiv. 3), he had begun to reform 
religion, and was putting down idolatry with vigor. The law 
was no longer observed, but it had not been quite forgotten, and 
now the long-neglected work of Moses reappeared, after being 
hidden in the Temple, as of old in the Tabernacle. 

3. The author of the third and fourth books of Kings wrote 
them, as critics admit, about the year 608 B.c., towards the end 
of the reign of Josias or at the beginning of that of Joakim. 
He narrates the history of the kings before Josias in such a 
way that everything contrary to the book of the law, which Josias 
and his people solemnly swore to observe, is represented as a 
breach of the law of Moses. He regards the discovered book 
as having come down from Moses. Is he so dull as to know 
nothing about the past? He was alive long before 623. But 
he certainly knew more than just the book of Deuteronomy. 
In III Kings xxi. 10 he plainly quotes Lev. xxiv. 16 and Ex. 
xxii. 28 (witnesses to blasphemy against God and the king). 
In xxii. 17 he quotes Num. xxvii. 17 (sheep without a shepherd). 
In IV Kings iv. 16 he distinctly refers to Gen. xvii. 10, and in 
v. 17 he shows that he knows of the altar of burnt offering in 
the Tabernacle (Ex. xx. 24). In IV Kings xu. 4 there is a 
mention of money paid to redeem the living; therefore the law 
of sacrifice in Num. xvill. 16 was known. In the same way in 


made to the law as written down by Moses. Vetter acknowledges that 
the whole Pentateuch has not a common origin, but he ascribes a large 
part of it to Moses. Hummelauer (Comm. in I. Deut.) is inclined to 
ascribe part of Deuteronomy (xii.-xxvi.) to Samuel, because we read in 
IT Kings x. 25 that ‘‘ Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and 
wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord.” —It is, however, 
unsafe to disregard the many passages (at least ten) in these chapters 
which are expressly ascribed to Moses, 


48 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


xi. 16 trespass and sin offerings are mentioned. In chapter 
xvil. of this book there are frequent allusions to the clauses 
of the Covenant which Yahweh made with Israel (e. g. v. 15 and 
v. 38). In xvi. 4 we read of the “ brazen serpent which Moses 
had made” (Num. xxi. 8, 9). In xxii. 9 we hear of priests 
who on account of some transgression shared the food of the other 
priests, but might not exercise any priestly functions (cf. Ley. 
xxi. 21, ete.). In xxii. 21 the Paschal celebration is spoken of, 
which is certainly mentioned in Deut. xvi, but is far more clearly 
described in Ex. xii.; Deut. xvi. only becomes intelligible when 
read with Ex. xii., and must have been written by one who 
took for granted the knowledge of this chapter. According to 
Kautzsch, all the passages referred. to occur in the so-called 
“ priests’ code,’ which is assumed to have been drawn up in 
Babylon about 500 B.c. How is this possible, since they were 
quoted as early as the seventh century before Christ? If then the 
author of the Books of Kings (who is rightly believed to have 
been the prophet Jeremias) knew the Pentateuch as a whole in 
608, and especially if he knew those portions also which are sup- 
posed to have been written during the Captivity, there can be 
no ground at all for maintaining that Helcias deceived Josias 
by forging a Deuteronomium, or that Esdras was the first to 
foist upon the people the “ priests’ code” as a work of Moses, in 
or about the year 444 B.c., and that he read it to the people, 
and induced them, on the strength of it, to form a covenant with 
Yahweh, or that the Pentateuch was not completed until about 
400 B.C. 


Il. The Prophets and the Pentateuch 


The ancient prophets, upon the date and authenticity of whose 
writings even modern criticism has cast no doubt, refer to the 
Pentateuch again and again, and also to those particular pas- 
sages which are supposed to have been written during the 
Captivity. 

Tsaias i. 11, etc., speaks of the sacrifices, new moons and Sab- 
baths, in just the same language as Exodus xxix., ete. Leviticus i., 
etc. (the “ priests’ code”), Ezechiel (iv. 14, etc.), complain that 
the people in heathen lands will be forced to eat unclean food 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 49 


(cf. Lev. xi. See also Ezech. vi. 4 and cf. Lev. xxvi. 30). The 
same prophet in ix. 6, etc., speaks of defilement from dead bodies, 
which violates the law in Num. xix. 11, ete. This nineteenth 
chapter is another of those belonging to the “ priests’ code” 
(cf. also Ezech. xi. 20 with Ex. vi. 7; Ezech. xxii. 10 with 
Dey. xvi. 7, 8/19). 

Jeremias insists upon keeping holy the Sabbath day (xvu. 19, 
etc.) ; Ezechiel does the same (xx. 13, 16, 21, where the viola- 
tion of the Sabbath is mentioned as a reason for the punishment 
inflicted upon the people). In spite of this evidence, the critics 
suggest that the law regarding the Sabbath is derived chiefly 
from the “ priests’ code” that was drawn up during the Cap- 
tivity. Osee, writing about 750 B.o., says (i. 9) that Israel 
ought no longer to be called God’s people: “ Call his name Not 
My People (Lo-ammi), for you are not my people, and I will 
not be yours.” There is plainly a reference here to Ex. vi. 7: 
“ T will take you to myself for my people,” which words are now 
ascribed to the “ priests’ code.” Compare also Osee iv. 4 with 
Num. xvi., a chapter most of which is supposed to belong to the 
“ priests’ code.” Compare further iv. 10 with Lev. xxvi. 26. 
In vil. 12 there is a particularly plain reference to the existence 
of the Pentateuch: “I shall write to him my manifold laws, 
which have been accounted as foreign. They shall offer victims, 
they shall sacrifice flesh, and shall eat it, and the Lord will not 
receive them: now will he remember their iniquity, and will 
visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.” This passage 
affords absolute proof that the “ priests’ code” existed at the 
time of Osee. Amos (il. 4) reproaches the Jews with not having 
kept the commandments of Yahweh. In iv. 4 he speaks of 
sacrifices and tithes (cf. v. 21, etc.).? 

Micheas (iu. 11) finds fault with the priests for taking money 
for teaching, and Ezechiel too (vil. 26) mentions such instruc- 
tion given by the priests. Now Ezechiel, writing in 594 B.C¢., 
might have referred to the Deuteronomium that is supposed to 


‘ That Amos must have been acquainted with the so-called “ priests’ 
code ” has been proved by Vetter. He has proved also that even Hoseas 
knew the Pentateuch, and that the compilation of it dated back before 
his time, and before that of the separation of the kingdoms. 


50 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


have been discovered in 623, for the law occurs in Deut. xvii. 9, 
etc. But if Micheas also speaks of something forbidden by law, 
Deuteronomy must be much older than 700 B.c., as Micheas 
lived under Achaz and Ezechias. The reference in Micheas vi. 15 
to Deut. xxvui. 38 affords a similar proof. 

When such quotations from the prophets are brought for- 
ward as evidence of the antiquity of the “ priests’ code” and 
the whole Pentateuch, we sometimes meet with the argument 
that the code is derived from the prophets! But whence did 
the prophets take their zeal, their indignation and their re- 
proaches against Israel if not from Moses? How could they 
blame the people so bitterly, and hurl such denunciations upon 
them, and threaten them with God’s vengeance, if the people 
had no definite law of God binding upon them? If that were 
so, the prophets would be simply beating the air. 

AN OBJECTION. Cornill says, p. 64: “ Such passages as Isaias 
1. 13, 14 and Amos v. 21-23 would be almost inexplicable, if the 
laws in the ‘ priests’ code’? had been known to these men and. 
their hearers as a divine command and binding obligation. How 
could Jeremias utter the words in vil. 22, if he had had before 
him the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers in their 
present form?” 

Let us examine these passages. 

Isaias in chapter i. directs the Israelites to the right path 
when he says (12): “ Who required these things at your hands, 
that you should walk in my courts? (13) Offer sacrifice no 
more in yain, incense is an abomination to me. The new moons 
and the Sabbaths and other festivals I will not abide, your 
assemblies are wicked. (14) My soul hateth your new moons 
and your solemnities, they are become troublesome to me.” 

Amos v. 21. “TI hate, and have rejected your festivities, and 
I will not receive the odor of your assemblies. (22) And if 
you offer me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them. 
(23) Take away from me the tumult of thy songs, and I will 
not hear the canticles of thy harp.” 

Jeremias vu. 22. “I spoke not to your fathers and I com- 
manded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the 
land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offerings and 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 51 


sacrifices; (23) but this thing I commanded them, saying, 
‘Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall 
be my people.’ ” 

It is maintained by some that these passages prohibit sacri- 
fices and festivals, and that the prophets were indignant at such 
things as being a heathen element in the worship of Yahweh — 
hence the “ priests’ code” enjoining such forms of worship (es- 
pecially Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers in their present form) 
could not have existed when the prophets used these words. 
“All these prophets fail to find words enough to express 
Yahweh’s hatred of sacrifice and all formal worship” ( Volck, 36). 

But any unprejudiced reader will easily perceive that what 
is condemned as wrong by all the prophets is the merely ex- 
ternal worship of God, since He demands not so much exterior 
homage as interior submission and righteousness of life. The 
words, however, actually prove that before the Captivity, in the 
time of Isaias, Amos and Jeremias, the sacrificial worship was 
regularly performed. If, however, these passages are regarded 
as sufficient proof that the “ priests’ code” did not exist in the 
eighth, seventh and sixth centuries before Christ, the following 
words from the Psalter, which, according to modern criticism, 
belongs to a period long after the Captivity (Kautzsch, Altes 
Testament, Beilage 130, etc.) would prove that the code was 
still non-existent in the fifth, fourth, third and second cen- 
turies. In Ps. xlix. (Vulg.) 9, etc., we read: “I will not take 
calves out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy flocks. For all 
the beasts of the woods are mine, the cattle on the hills and 
the oxen. ... If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee, 
for the world is mine and the fulness thereof. Shall I eat the 
flesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of goats?” Simi- 
lar passages occur in Ps xxxix. 7, ete., 1. 18. Kautzsch (loc. 
cit., Betlage 207) thinks, indeed, that these psalms may be- 
long to an earlier, prophetic period. But if the men who 
collected the psalms, often, as he assumes, made serious al- 
terations in their original form, and if, when they lived, the 
exterior liturgical forms of worship were regarded “as the chief 
and absolutely indispensable proof of a disposition pleasing to 
God” (ibid. 209), what could hinder these persons from sup- 


52 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


pressing such passages as these, which must have seemed to 
them very objectionable? 

If, however, the Psalter recognizes and emphasizes the fact 
that outward sacrifices cannot please God, unless accompanied 
by the right inward dispositions, ought not the same inter- 
pretation to be assigned to the prophets’ utterances? (cf. Is. 
lvili. 3, ete.). 


5. REFUTATION FROM THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH 


The mixed race of the Samaritans possessed the Pentateuch, 
but in a form that differs frequently from the Masoretic text, 
and has more points of agreement with the Septuagint version, 
that existed long before the time of our Lord. This fact and the 
use of the old Semitic characters in which it was written and 
is still preserved:and used by the few remaining Samaritans, 
are proofs of its great antiquity. When did the Samaritans 
obtain possession of it? 

There are three answers possible to this question. 

1. The usual opinion at the present day is that the law 
became known to the Samaritans about the time of Esdras and 
Nehemias, or perhaps at the time of Alexander the Great. 
Josephus Flavius records in his “ Antiquities” (XI, vili. 2), 
that a priest from Jerusalem, Manasses by name, was exiled in 
consequence of having broken the law, and joined the Samari- 
tans. With the aid of his father-in-law Sanaballat, governor of 
Samaria, he built a temple on Mount Garizim, and instituted 
the worship of Yahweh. Josephus says that this occurred in 
the time of Alexander; but Nehemias relates a very similar 
story as belonging to his own lifetime (xiii. 28). In speaking 
of the reprehensible custom of taking foreign wives, he says that 
even a priest, one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliasib, the 
high priest, had married the daughter of Sanaballat the Horo- 
nite, and he adds: “I drove him from me.” It seems quite 
improbable that the Sanaballat mentioned by Nehemias was not 
the same man as the Sanaballat mentioned by Josephus, and 
that on two occasions, separated by no long interval of time, 
a member of the high priest’s family should have married the 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 53 


daughter of a Samaritan ruler named Sanaballat, and was there- 
fore excluded from all priestly duties at Jerusalem. It seems 
fairly certain that Josephus has made a mistake; he is not quite 
trustworthy with regard to the history of Esdras and Nehemias. 
However, whether it was about 430 or about 330 3B. co. that a 
priest left Jerusalem for Samaria, it is assumed that when the 
Samaritan temple was built on Garizim, a form of worship 
conformable to Jewish usage was instituted, and that part of 
the service consisted in reading the Book of the Law, which this 
priest Manasses is said to have carried with him from Jerusalem. 

2. According to IV Kings xvii. 24, etc., after the destruc- 
tion of the northern kingdom in 722, the king of Assyria sent 
people from the region of the Euphrates to occupy Samaria, 
and they mingled with the remainder of the Israelites. That 
some Israelites were left there is clear from Jeremias xli. 5; 
If Chronicles xxxiv. 9, 21, and also from the Book of Judith, 
which (even if it were not canonical) is certainly based upon 
historical traditions.1 In the sparsely populated country in the 
north, wild beasts increased so rapidly that lions made their way 
into the villages. This was regarded as a punishment inflicted 
upon the heathen colonists for not worshiping Yahweh, the God 
of the country, but their own deities. Consequently, a priest was 
sent back home from the number of those in captivity in Assyria, 
in order to instruct the people in the worship of Yahweh. For 
this purpose the priest may have provided himself with a book 
of the law, which thenceforth remained in use in Samaria. 

3. The Samaritans may have possessed the book of the 
law before the separation of the two kingdoms, and have retained 
it after that event. Although King Jeroboam drove out the 
lawful priests and Levites and introduced the worship of idols, 
some faithful servants of Yahweh were no doubt left in the 
northern kingdom, as we see, for instance, from the story of 
Tobias, which, even if it were purely fictitious, would neverthe- 
less bear witness to the feelings of the population of the north, 
as does the activity of Amos and Osee, the prophets, who re- 
proached Samaria with having fallen away from the right wor- 


1 In the sa ne way some Jews were, after 588, left in Juda, for not all 
the people, not, for instance, old men, children and the sick, were removed. 


54 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


ship and threatened the country with God’s vengeance. Nahum, 
who was zealous for Yahweh’s honor, came from the north. 

This last explanation seems by far the best; for (a) immedi- 
ately after the return of the Jews from the Captivity, the 
Samaritans asked to be allowed to take part in building the 
Temple, saying: “ We seek your God as you do, and have sacri- 
ficed to him” (Esdras iv. 2, etc.). They knew, therefore, the 
religious institutions of the Pentateuch. (b) When their re- 
quest was not granted, they developed bitter hostility against 
the Jews, which lasted for centuries, and still existed in the 
time of our Lord, so that it is inconceivable that they still re- 
ceived and accepted religious books from them. 

(c) If they had received the Book of the Law long after the 
Captivity, through Manasses the priest, it could hardly have 
been in the old Hebrew script, which the Samaritans have pre- 
served to the present day, but in square characters. According 
to Jewish tradition, Esdras brought these square characters or 
Assyrian writing back with him from exile. We read in the 
Talmud: “The Law was originally given to the Israelites in 
Hebrew script and in the holy language. It was given the 
second time in the days of Esra in Assyrian writing.” Origen 
and Saint Jerome adopt this statement. In opposition to this 
tradition it is useless to argue that the Samaritans received 
the Pentateuch in the old Hebrew script from the Jews about 
the year 400 (Benzinger, Archdologie, 287), for this statement 
would first have to be proved. 

(d) How can the fact be accounted for that the Samaritans 
possess only the Pentateuch and a mutilated version of Josue, 
if they received the holy book from the Jews long after the 
Captivity? Modern criticism assumes that the historical part 
of the Pentateuch was united with Josue, Judges, Samuel and 
Kings, about 561 B.c., so as to form one body of sacred litera- 
ture; why, then, did the Samaritans receive a comparatively 
small part of it? And why have they none of the prophetic 
writings, which at that date had long been held in honor by 
the Jews? 

(e) We have an account of Manasses taking refuge with the 
Samaritans, and of the building of the temple on Garizim, but 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 55 


there is no record of any transfer of a book of the law. “ Neither 
Nehemias nor Josephus says a word about the Pentateuch in 
this connection” (Reuss, 381). 

(f) In Jerusalem there would have been taken all precautions 
against allowing the apostate to obtain the holy book. Was it 
so badly guarded that he could steal it? Would not this theft 
have been a constant ground of reproach against the Samari- 
tans? There is no trace of anything of the kind. 

(g) It would not be to the interest of the apostate priest to 
take with him, and to introduce into Samaria, a book the pre- 
cepts of which he had himself transgressed by his marriage, as 
it would contain his own condemnation. 


6. REFUTATION FROM ORIENTAL RECORDS 


(a) The chief weapon of the modern critics is “ divergence 
of authorities.” When, however, they attempt to apply this 
principle to the subject of the Deluge they are found to be un- 
trustworthy and wholly misleading. The account of this event, as 
given in Genesis vi.-ix., is supposed to have been derived partly 
from the Yahvist and partly from the “ priests’ code.” The 
Chaldzan Genesis, however, discovered by Smith, an English- 
man, in cuneiform characters at Ninive, and published by him, 
contains all the essential features of the Bible narrative.t “ Di- 
vergence of authorities ” ought, therefore, to be applied also to 
the Chaldwan work, which formed part of the library belonging 
to King Asurbanipal of Assyria (667-626). If that work is 
inadmissible, we may say the same of Genesis. 

(b) It has been proved that the proper names occurring in 
the Pentateuch, which in their construction bear witness to 
monotheism, are not, as Wellhausen asserts, of very late in- 
vention, but that names of quite similar meaning (e.g. “my 
God knoweth,” “my God hath heard”) were used long before 
the time of Moses by some of the western Semites in Asia Minor. 
These tribes of Arab origin won supremacy over Babylon, and 
hence similar names occur also in polytheistic Babylon. They 


1 Two other texts of the Babylonian account of the Deluge are in 
existence. 


56 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


prove (1) that monotheism belongs to a period long anterior 
to the prophets and Moses, and (2) that the five books of Moses 
containing these proper names are much older than modern 
criticism will allow." 


B. GOD AND THE GODS IN ISRAEL 
1. MoNOTHEISM AND POLYTHEISM 


In the history of antiquity we everywhere meet with the 
worship of God, but as the deity is worshiped differently in 
different places, it has been assumed by modern students of 
religion that polytheism was the original, and that monotheism 
was a later development, as generally what is imperfect pre- 
cedes what is perfect; the latter developing from the former. 
This opinion is, however, erroneous. In the lives of nations, as 
of individuals, there may be a falling away from good to bad. 
Polytheism is a degeneration of the earliest religion of mankind, 
and hints of this decay are given plainly enough in the stories 
of a golden age, stories that are of almost universal occurrence 
among all nations, and therefore certainly contain a grain of 
historical truth. We have, moreover, the generally accepted 
axiom that the plural presupposes a singular. 

It is indeed true that ancient nations generally worshiped 
several gods, but amidst the plurality of gods there is always 
a glimmer of the original idea of one true God. Even the name 
of this one God exists in similar forms among many nations. 
Hl of the Israelites is the same as Jlu. of the Babylonians and 
Assyrians, Allah of the Arabs and Alloho of the Syrians. In 
the Turin “ Book of the Dead,” that goes back to nearly 3000 
years before Christ and supphes us with the earliest recorded 
doctrines of the Egyptians, we read: “ There is One most Holy, 


1 With all the preceding portion of this section of the book (pp. 
37-56) cf. Lex mosaica, an excellent work. The authors, eminent Eng- 
lish scholars and theologians, succeed in proving that the whole history 
of the Jews depends upon the Mosaic Law, which reappears in the pro- 
phetic writings. Many other scholars, for instance Cornill who once 
supported radical criticism, are now disposed to pay due regard to tradi- 
tion in many respects. 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 57 


Creator of the world in its fullness. He sees as you see, hears 
as you hear, stands as you stand. Suffer me to praise the 
Architect, who hath made the fullness of the universe; who 
caused all things on the earth and beyond the world to come 
into being in due time, who hath fashioned them for me.” But 
when Moses lived there were eight elementary deities recog- 
nized by this ancient and highly civilized nation. In Babylonia 
originally one, and only one, local deity was honored in each 
town, but a plurality of gods was recognized from the time when 
the various districts were united into one monarchy;+ and the 
deities were all classed together in the same way as the towns 
and people. The same thing happened in Rome; and this is 
how polytheism originated. 

It is a remarkable fact that we know of no nation, either 
in ancient or modern times, completely devoid of religious 
faith. Atheism and materialism have always appealed only to 
individuals. It is almost equally remarkable, however, that 
among most nations the worship of the one true God perished, 
and that even among the most civilized peoples religious wor- 
ship was perverted. The former fact can be explained only by 
accepting a very early revelation, which was never completely 
forgotten, but in remote times was more fresh in men’s minds. 
The latter has several causes: 

(1) Man cannot and will not live without God. His re- 
ligious feelings need satisfaction, and whenever, in consequence 
of human transgression, the true God is no longer recognized, 
man seeks his god in the stars, in thunder and lightning, in 
wood and stone. (2) True religion at all periods has required 
strict control of the passions. Heathen religions, on the con- 
trary, have taken the sensual inclinations of mankind under 
their protection, and thus have won ready acceptance. (3) 
Demoniacal influences have played their part. The fallen angels 
wished to be equal with God, and having failed in this attempt 
in Heaven, they tried to win divine honors for themselves on 
earth. Just as the devil contributed to the sin of the first 
human beings, so he has promoted the errors of mankind in 


1 Hammurabi became the first overlord in about 2100 B. c., when Abra- 
ham left Ur, his native place (Gen. xi. 34; Jos. xxiv. 2). 


58 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


later periods. The devils would not relinquish the influence 
that they had once secured in Paradise (Deuteronomy xxxu. 17). 
The faithless Israelites in the wilderness “sacrificed to devils 
and not to God”+ (Psalms xecv. 5). “All the gods of the 
Gentiles are devils.’”* The Fathers of the Church held the 
same opinions. (4) Another reason for the repeated lapses of 
the Israelites into idolatry was the example of the Chanaanites 
and other heathen neighbors, as all around heathen worship pre- 
vailed with its seductive charm. Many kings, too, set a bad 
~ example; those of the northern kingdom especially had a po- 
litical ground for opposing the worship of the true God. If 
their people had no religious interest in the Temple at Jerusalem 
and ceased to visit it, they would lose also their affection for 
David’s line, that ruled in Jerusalem (IV Kings xi. 27). 


2. WORSHIP OF THE STARS 


Probably the earliest form of degeneration undergone by the 
original monotheism was the worship of stars, known as Sabaism, 
from x2¥ == host of the heavenly bodies. It occurred occa- 
sionally among the Israelites. In Deuteronomy xvii. 3 it is 
strictly forbidden, as opposed to the worship of the true God, 
and the penalty of death by stoning was imposed upon any who 
practiced it. In the Book of Job (xxxi. 26) the holy man de- 
clares that he has never worshiped the heavenly bodies. “If I 
beheld the sun when it shined, and the moon going in brightness ; 
and my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have kissed my 
hand with my mouth, which is a very great iniquity, and a 


* According to the Hebrew words ovwd ina this passage means 
literally “ they sacrificed to the destroyers ”’ (from tv = Iv, to attack 
violently, to ruin). The Septuagint translated é@vcay Satpolors, and un- 
derstood thereby the gods of the heathen, who, in contrast to the true 
God, could only bring disaster. This is only possible if they are self- 
conscious beings, hostile to God, viz. evil spirits. 

? Hebrew pox (from x, not) = nothings, vanitates. But the Sep- 
tuagint renders the word daméma, according to the meaning given it by 
their countrymen. That the Jews were well aware who was the object 
of idolatrous worship appears from their designating the prince of the 
devils by the name of the false god Beelzebub (Matt. ix. 34; Mark iii. 
22; Luke xi. 15). 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 59 


denial against the most high God.” From Ezechiel viii. 16, 17 
we learn that the worshiper turned his face towards the rising 
sun, keeping a branch before his eyes, probably as a token of 
gratitude for the growth of plants. From Jeremias xix. 13 
we see that incense was burnt, and from Job (loc. cit.) that it 
was the custom to kiss the hand to the sun. 


3. WORSHIP OF IMAGES 


“Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the 
likeness of anything that is in heaven above or in the earth 
beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the 
earth” (Ex. xx. 4). The reason for this prohibition was the 
danger of idolatry that prevailed generally. Especially in Egypt 
the Israelites had witnessed idolatrous worship, and hence in 
the wilderness they attempted to worship the true God under 
the form of a golden calf; just as the Egyptians worshiped 
the deity under the form of a bull. The same thing occurred 
in the schismatic kingdom of Samaria. Jeroboam I, who had 
lived in Egypt in his youth, caused two golden calves to be 
made, one to stand in Dan, and the other in Bethel, as repre- 
sentations of Yahweh (IV Kings xu. 29). The prophets vigor- 
ously opposed this design, and denounced it as being idolatrous 
(Amos ill. 14; v. 5; Osee iv. 15; vii. 5). Other images of 
gods were the teraphim, little domestic deities, mentioned as 
early as the times of the Patriarchs and Judges (Gen. xxxi. 19; 
Judges xvll. 5; xviii. 31), and there was also the statue 
Kijjun, a representation of the planet Saturn, which the 
Israelites carried with them in the wilderness (Amos v. 26; 
Acts vil. 43) and is often identified with Moloch or Kronos. 


The prohibition only referred to figures intended to represent the true 
God or other deities, for in Lev. xxvi. 1, it has the addition “ to worship 
it.” Figures having no religious significance were not prohibited; cheru- 
bim were set up near the Ark of the Covenant and brazen cattle near the 
laver in the Temple. At a later period the Jews extended the prohibition 
to all figures, and would not even allow the Roman soldiers to enter 
Jerusalem with eagles on their standards. This aversion on the part of 
the Jews passed on to Islam. It is well known that Leo III, the Isaurian, 
encouraged iconoclasm among the Christians, in his anxiety to conciliate 
Jews and Mahometans (726-841). 


60 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Other deities, repeatedly worshiped by the Israelites, were of 
Chanaanite, Assyrian or Egyptian origin. 


4, CHANAANITE DEITIES 


1. The chief god, common to all Chanaanite tribes, was Baal 
or Bel,’ i.e. the Lord, and especially the husband. He was 
honored as personifying the procreative and propagating prin- 
ciple in nature, but he was also thought of as a natural force 
tending both to preserve and to destroy. His worship varied 
at different periods and in different places. Therefore there 
were several Baals (I Cor. viii. 5, xUpvot modXol). 

Babylon was the original home of this cultus. In Holy 
Scripture there is mention of: 

(a) Baal-berith= Baal of the Covenant. A temple in Sichem 
was dedicated to the god under this name. 

(b) Baal-semes = Baal as sun-god. 

(c) Baal-sebub = Beelzebub = Baal of the flies. Under this 
name he was worshiped in Accaron (Ekron), a city of the 
Philistines. He was believed to have power to bring swarms 
of destructive flies and to remove them again. The Israelites 
in later times, who detested idolatry, gave this name to the chief 
of the devils, and, through the similarity in sound, they seem 
often to have called him Beelsebul, i.e. lord of the dwelling, 
because he chose human bodies as his habitation, for the name 
is given in this form in the Gospels. 

(2) Baal-peor, probably so called from the hill Peor or 
Phegor situated opposite Jericho. This god was worshiped 
by the Moabites. 

There were originally no figures of Baal, but upright pillars 
(chammanim or mazzeboth) served to mark the sites of his 
worship; later, however, he was represented in human form. 


+Syan, Chald. bys, abbreviated 53; in the cuneiform inscriptions 
Bil. After the introduction of polytheism the name was used to desig- 
nate the chief of the gods, as were the names Zeus and Jupiter. Here, 
too, a trace of the primitive monotheism remains. — The frequently men- 
tioned name Marduk (in the Bible Merodak or Merodach) was only an- 
other expression for Bel. Marduk was primarily the god worshiped at 
Babel. 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 61 


The so-called Tyrian Herakles is really a statue of Baal. He 
was known also as Melkart, i.e. the city king. According to 
Miillenhof (Deutsche Altertumskunde, I, 69) Herakles him- 
self is not of Greek origin, but both the legends about him and 
his cultus came to the Greeks from the Hast. 

2. The chief female deity of the Chanaanites, occupying a 
position like that of Baal, was Axhtoreth; the meaning of her 
name is uncertain. Its Greek form is “Actaptn, and in the 
Vulgate it is spelled Astarthe. Another name for the same god- 
dess is Aschera (n>vx== happiness). She represents the female 
principle in nature, i.e. nature herself, as conceiving and bring- 
ing forth ever new forms of hfe. There were originally no real 
statues of this deity, but wooden columns, called Ascherim or 
Ascheroth, marked her cultus. They stood on mountains and 
hills, or among trees with thick foliage, for which reason the 
Septuagint and Vulgate translate the word Aschera by “ wood ” 
or “grove.” ‘They generally were placed near the altars to Baal, 
but were shaped differently from the stone pillars dedicated to 
the god. Astarte was subsequently often represented as a cow, or 
as a woman with a cow’s head, or with a human head and cow’s 
horns. The worship of this goddess was very obscene; men and 
women gave themselves up to obscenity in her honor. She had 
persons specially dedicated to her, gedeschim and gedeschot (Gen. 
xxxvill. 15). Christian chastity dedicated to God stands out in 
beautiful contrast to her worship, which did not, however, 
originate in western Asia, but was introduced from the lands 
near the Euphrates, as was probably also the cultus of Baal. 
From Pheenicia it spread westward to the Greeks and the 
Romans. Hence Astarte is to be identified with Baaltis or Beltis 
of the Babylonians (also called Bilit or Mylitta), also with 
Istar of the Assyrians, with the Syrian goddess Anaitis, with the 
Greek Aphrodite and the Roman Venus. On account of her 
cow’s horns the western nations sometimes honored her as Luna 
or Juno, as the horns suggested a crescent moon. The Israelites 
very early adopted her worship, as may be seen from Judges ii. 
13; x. 6; II Kings in. 4; xu. 10. Out of deference to his 
Phoenician wives, Solomon afterwards transferred her cultus to 
Jerusalem. 


62 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


3. The worship of Tammus? seems to have been connected 
with the service of Baal, and had its chief seat in the Phcenician 
town of Biblos. This cultus, too, spread from Pheenicia to 
the west; first to Cyprus and then to Greece, where the god 
was known as Adonis== my Lord. Under the Jewish kings his 
worship was introduced into Jerusalem, for Ezechiel says that 
the women in the Temple mourned over Adonis or Tammus 
(Ezech. viii. 14). The idea underlying this cultus is the ex- 
pression of sorrow for the decay and death of the powers of 
nature in the autumn, and of joy over their re-awakening, as 
soon as the sun turns again to the north. In spring, therefore, 
there was a joyful festival and in late autumn a time of mourn- 
ing, when women especially gave themselves up to sorrow and 
lamentation over the loss of Adonis. LEzechiel tells us that the 
Israelites observed the time of mourning, but it cannot be 
proved from Holy Scripture that they also celebrated the joyful 
festival. 

4. In the Old Testament (first in Lev. xxvi. 30), especially 
in the books of Kings and Chronicles, but also in the Prophets, 
we read of a worship on high places which is censured (bama = 
height, plural bamoth). It is well known that the Chanaanites, 
who worshiped nature, preferred to celebrate their rites on 
natural or artificial hills, which became the scenes of great 
revelry. The Israelites copied the Chanaanite custom and also 
chose hills on which to worship their God. This was very 
natural, as the true God had appeared to them on Mount Sinai; 
but soon heathen practices and obscenity crept into their cere- 
monies, and consequently the prophets sternly denounced them, 
and pious kings destroyed these high places. 

5. The two Philistine deities, Dagon and Derketo (Gr. 
"Atapyatis), bore some resemblance to Baal and Astarte. 
Both were represented with the bodies of fish, and human heads 
and hands. Dagon, the male deity, symbolized water and the 
procreative forces of nature, which are rendered active by means 
of water. The female deity, Derketo, is supposed to represent 
the power of the earth to absorb moisture, and as a result to 
produce living things. 





*1y9A. The meaning of the name is obscure. 


TEE BELO ay P BO BiG: 63 


It would be reasonable to suppose that the cultus of these deities in 
Philistwa was connected with its proximity to the sea; but the monu- 
ments and records of the lands near the Euphrates show representations 
of Dagon, proving that the Babylonians and Assyrians also honored this 
god. That his cultus was not limited to Philistaa appears from the oc- 
currence of the name Bethdagon in the territory of Juda and Aser (Jos., 
Antiq., XV, 41; XIX, 27). An Atargateion, or temple of Atargatis, ex- 
isted in the district east of the Jordan in the time of Judas Machabeeus, 
and was destroyed by him (II Mach. xii. 26 in the Septuagint). The 
name Dagon is certainly connected with dag, a fish; Atargatis or Derketo 
appears to be another expression for Astarte, just as Dagon represented 
one definite side of the Baal worship. 


5. ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN DEITIES 


1. The god Moloch (i.e. king), also called Milkom or Mal- 
kom, is often mentioned in Holy Scripture, and was honored 
in western Asia as early as the time of Moses. In Leviticus xviil. 
21 the Israelites are warned against him. He is generally spoken 
of as the false god of the Moabites, but Chamos (i.e. ruler), 
the god of the Ammonites, is identical with him (Num. xxi. 29; 
Judges xi. 24; III Kings xi. 5); and Orotal (= God’s fire) 
mentioned by Herodotus as the fire-god of the Edomites may 
also be regarded as the same deity. To please his heathen wives, 
Solomon built shrines to him on the Mount of Olives (III 
Kings xi. 7 and 33), but they were intended only for the king’s 
wives and for foreigners in general. ‘The Israelites, however, 
themselves worshiped Moloch in the valley of Hinnom, south of 
Jerusalem, as we read in many places, especially in Jeremias. 
Holy Scripture records also (IV Kings xvii. 31) that the 
colonists from the Euphrates, who settled in Samaria after the 
downfall of the northern kingdom, offered children in sacrifice 
to their national god Moloch, whom they called Adramelech 
(splendor of the king) or Anamelech (King Anu). This fact 
shows that the cultus of Moloch, like that of Baal, was intro- 
duced from Assyria and Babylonia. It was intended to empha- 
size one special aspect of the worship of Baal, viz. the honoring 
of the destructive and therefore fearful forces of nature. That 
Moloch was well known in Assyria appears from inscriptions 
on monuments that still exist, on which the name Anamalech 
(King Anu) very frequently occurs. 


64 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The worship of Moloch consisted chiefly in the sacrifice of 
children. In order to appease the dread deity, people offered 
him their children, their most precious possession. Even King 
Achaz (IV Kings xvi. 3) offered his own son to Moloch in 
the valley of Hinnom. The statue of the god was of metal, 
and probably in human form; it was hollow inside, and was 
made red hot with fire. Then living children were laid upon 
the outstretched arms of the figure, so that they rolled into the 
open mouth and, falling into the midst of the fire, were burned 
to death.t The idea underlying this cultus is that time destroys 
all existing things as well as produces them. Hence Moloch 
is identical with Kronos and Saturn, a god of the west, who 
devours his own offspring. 

2. We read of King Achaz in Holy Scripture (IV Kings xvi. 
10) that in the Temple at Jerusalem he set up an idolatrous 
altar resembling an Assyrian one that he had seen in Damascus, 
and caused sacrifices to be offered upon it. It seems that he 
did not intend to honor any particular god by this means, but 
wished to propitiate the deities in general, who had raised the 
Assyrians to such power and dignity. “The gods,” he said, 
“of the kings of Syria help them, and I will appease them with 
victims, and they will help me,’ but the passage concludes, 
“whereas on the contrary they were the ruin of him and of 
all Israel (II Chron. xxviii. 23). 

3. In IV Kings xvu. 30 Holy Scripture tells us that the 
immigrants into Samaria from the east honored the God of 
Israel as god of the country, but retained their heathen deities 
as well. Besides Moloch (Adramelech and Anamelech), to 
whom the people of Sepharvaim (i.e. Sebarim, Ezech. xlvii. 16) 
sacrificed children, mention is made of (a) Sochothbenoth, 


* Diodorus Siculus describes the statue of this god at Carthage as fol- 
lows: “ There was a brazen statue of Kronos, in human shape, stretch- 
ing its hands upwards and somewhat sloping, so that children, laid upon 
them, rolled down and fell into its throat, which was full of fire.” 
Raschi (Jarchi), the rabbinical commentator, says on Jer. vii. 31: 
“Moloch was made of brass and heated from below. The hands were 
stretched out and glowed with heat, and the child was laid upon them 
and burned up, shrieking all the while; but the sacrificing priests made 
a noise with kettledrums, so that the father could not hear its cries.” 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 65 


(b) Nergal, (c) Asima, (d) Nibhaz (Nebahaz), (e) Thartak. 
Nothing is known as to the worship of these gods.? 


6. EaGyptriAn DEITIES 


1. In Egypt there was a worship of animals, which were 
adored as symbols of the deity. The Israelites while in Egypt 
had become familiar with their cultus, and so in the desert, 
wishing to honor the god who had brought them out of Egypt, 
they represented him as a calf, no doubt remembering the wor- 
ship of Apis. This did not imply a falling away from the 
true God, and Aaron proclaimed that the ceremony should be 
regarded as held in honor of Yahweh (Ex. xxxii.). It appears, 
however, that the people only desired the sensual pleasures con- 
nected with the heathen worship and with the sacrifices per- 
formed at that time; therefore the occurrence was declared 
_sinful and sternly censured, and was not regarded as a par- 
donable mistake. 

2. In Ezechiel vii. we read that shortly before the destruction 
of the kingdom of Juda, the Israelites, fearing the Babylonians, 
tried to win the favor of the Egyptians by again adopting the 
worship of Egyptian gods. Animal worship revived, this time 
in direct antagonism to the service of the true God. If Ezechiel’s 
narrative is to be understood literally, this idolatrous cultus was 
carried on actually in the Temple at Jerusalem; it is, however, 
possibly not intended to be thus understood. The prophets often 
denounced a mere inclination towards heathen nations and a 


1 According to Erasmus Nagl: Sochothbenoth = Zakmuku Zarbanit, 
i.e. a solstice festival in honor of Marduk and his spouse Zarbanit; the 
names may have been abbreviated in the common dialect. The people of 
Cutha (Assyrian: Kutu, a town north of Babel, now Till Ibrahim) made 
a Nergal; he was a sun-god, also ruler of war pestilence and hell. .The 
men of Emath (Chamath, Egyptian and Assyrian Chamati, now Chama) 
worshiped Asima, i.e. the old Chanaanite deity Esmun-Thammus, the 
god of death and resurrection; Emath is mentioned in Gen. x. 18 as a 
Chanaanite settlement. The Hevites (Avvites) honored Nibhaz and Thar- 
tak. They were a tribe of Chanaanite origin, and so their gods are also 
Chanaanite (see pp. 19 and 21) (Gen. x. 17). Nibhaz is called in the 
Septuagint "EP\afép, which is probably a corrupt form of Baal-azar= 
Baal is our help. Thartak seems to be the same as Derketo or Atargatis. 


66 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


desire to seek help from them instead of from God as worship 
of heathen deities. 

On account of their obstinate falling away from the true God, Moses 
had threatened the people with the penalty of exile from the Promised 
Land and even of losing this land altogether (Deut. xxviii. 63; xxx. 18). 
These threats were fulfilled when they were carried into captivity; but 
the punishment had the wholesome result of making the Jews thenceforth 
abhor idolatrous worship of false gods. After their return from Babylon, 
they showed so little tendency towards it that every attempt by the 
Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes to introduce the cultus of other gods 
amongst the Jews remained completely unsuccessful. 


> 


C. THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS OF ISRAEL 


Religious antiquities are generally discussed under four. head- 
ings: (1) holy places, (2) holy persons, (3) sacred ritual, (4) 
sacred seasons. 


SouRcES OF INFORMATION 


(a) Principal Sources of Information. These are primarily 
the Holy Scriptures, especially the historical books of the Old 
‘Testament. 

Next in importance are the works, not included in the Bible, 
of Jewish writers of the same period as the Bible. There are, 
unfortunately, very few of these, and they are not earlier than 
the time of Christ and the Apostles. We may mention par- 
ticularly the works of Philo and of Josephus Flavius, both of 
whom wrote in Greek. 

Philo was born in Alexandria in 25 B.c. He was the son 
of a Jewish priest, lived in Alexandria and received there a 
comprehensive Greek education. He employed the knowledge 
thus acquired in writing books intended to defend and expound 
Judaism for the benefit of pagan readers. His chief works are: 
The Life of Moses; The Creation; The Decalogue; Circum- 
cision; Sacrifices. 

The writings of Josephus, who bore the Roman cognomen 
Flavius, are still more important. He, too, was the son of 
a Jewish priest, and was born in Jerusalem in 37 A.D. His 
works, written in Rome, far from Palestine, and after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, are nevertheless most valuable, especially 


THE HOLY PEOPLE 67 


for the later period, of which the Bible does not give much 
account. They are: History of the Jewish War, in seven books; 
Jewish Antiquities, in 20 books;* two books against the Sophist 
Apion, and the history of his own life. 

(b) Secondary Sources of Information. The foremost of 
these is the Talmud (from lamad, to learn, hence the book of 
learning, or doctrine). For the Jews this is by far the most 
important book after the Bible;? it consists of two parts, the 
Mishna and the Gemara. The first part, which forms the 
Talmud strictly so called, is the Mishna (from schana, to repeat, 
hence it is the repetition of the Law). ‘This is in Hebrew,? and 
contains a collection of the earliest Jewish traditions, written 
down at the end of the second or at the beginning of the third 
century by Rabbi Juda Hakkadosch, head of the school at 
Tiberias, in order to preserve them from being forgotten or 
tampered with.* Explanations were added later, and these form 


1 In the “ Antiquities,” XVIII, iii. 3, Josephus speaks of Christ, in 
whom he did not himself believe. The passage is as follows: “At this time 
lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed we may call him a man; for he was a 
worker of miracles and a teacher to those who gladly receive the truth. 
He had many followers, both Jews and Gentiles, and was regarded as the 
Messias. In consequence of the envy of our rulers he was condemned by 
Pilate to be crucified. Nevertheless those who had formerly loved him 
remained loyal to him, for he showed himself to them alive again on the 
third day. This and many other wonderful things had been foretold con- 
cerning him in the writings of the prophets, and hitherto the sect of 
Christians, taking its name from him, has not ceased to exist.” Many 
critics have pronounced this passage to be a forgery, but it bears every 
token of being genuine. 

? The Jews maintain that everything taught by our Lord may be 
found also in the Talmud; this book, however, is of later origin than the 
New Testament. It is based not only upon the oral teaching of the 
Rabbis, but has also written sources. Much in it is pure gold, but inter- 
mixed with worthless matter. 

3 i.e. in modern Hebrew, which bears the same relation to biblical 
Hebrew as is borne by the Latin of medieval scholars to that of the 
Roman classical authors. 

* Rabbi Juda divided his writings into six sections (sedarim, arrange- 
ments): viz. (1) seder ser‘tm = seed section, containing all relating to 
husbandry, i. e. explanations of the laws regarding it; (2) seder mo‘ed = 
of festivals (Sabbath, Pasch, Day of Atonement, ete.) ; (3) seder:naschim 
= of women, marriage laws; (4) seder nesigin = of injuries (damage to 
property, compensation, trials, etc.); (5) seder qodaschim = of holy 
things (regulations for sacrifice); (6) seder theharoth = purifications 


68 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the second part of the Talmud, viz. the Gemara (from gamar, 
Aramaic gemar, to complete, hence conclusion, completion). This 
part is in Aramaic and falls into two portions, the Jerusalem 
and the Babylonian. ‘The former originated, like the Mishna, 
in the school at Tiberias, and was compiled by Rabbi Jochanan 
(189-279). Itis in the West Aramaic dialect. The Babylonian 
Gemara is much longer and is in East Aramaic, a dialect akin 
to the Syrian. It was brought from Babylon, where there had 
always been many Jews, ever since the Captivity, and where 
they had famous schools. It was written in the fifth and sixth 
centuries, and was the joint work of several Rabbis (Asche, 
Jose, etc.).* 


(Levitical uncleanness, ablutions, bathing, ete.). The Gemara also, both 
in the Palestine and in the Babylonian portions, shows the same division 
into sections. 

* The Gemara is often called simply the Talmud, so that we hear of the 
Palestine and the Babylonian Talmud. Cf. Monumenta Judaica: I Bib- 
liotheca Targumica, Il Bibliotheca Talmudica. Vienna and Leipzig. 





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FIRST SECTION 


HOLY PLACES 
I. THE TABERNACLE 


1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION 


(Exodus xxvi.) 


T God’s command Moses employed skillful workmen to 
erect a tent temple on Sinai, according to the plan revealed 

to him by God. This was called the Dwelling (muischkan) or 
Tabernacle." This tent was entered from the east and was 
divided into two parts, the Holy and the Most Holy places. It 
formed a long quadrangle, and its length (interior) was 30 
cubits,? its breadth 10 cubits and its height 10 cubits; it was 
made of a wooden framework, composed of 48 strong planks * 
or beams of acacia wood.* Each plank was covered with gold, 
and measured 10 cubits in length and 114 in breadth. This 
wooden frame surrounded the interior on three sides, but on 
the fourth side were columns and a curtain. ‘The two side 
walls contained 20 planks each, the shorter end wall only 8. 


1 In the Vulgate it is called tabernaculum foderis or tabernaculum 
testimoni. In the Septuagint, oxnvy rov waprupiov; in tho Hebrew Bible, 
“Tent of the Agreement, Tent of the Testimony, Dwelling of the Testi- 
mony.” 

* An ell or cubit is the length from the point of the middle finger to 
the elbow = six handbreadths or two spans; about half a yard. 

’ The Hebrew Dw (from wr: to cut off) is generally translated 
planks. The word, however, only signifies something cut or hewn of 
wood, as in Ezech. xxvii. 6. In the Septuagint it is rendered orvdox, 
pillars. The Vulgate has (less accurately) tabulw. The word might be 
translated beams or uprights. 

* Hebrew, “ wood of sehittim.” This is the plural of schittah = the 
genuine acacia, Mimosa nilotica. The tree grew to a considerable size 
and its wood was very durable and at the same time very light. This 
wood was to be used because the acacia is the only tree that thrives in 
the valleys of Sinai. 


70 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Each plank must have been a cubit in thickness, so that the 
two at the ends of the shorter wall were flush with those at the 
ends of the long walls.1 At the lower end of each plank were 
two projections? which fitted into silver sockets, and on the 
outer side were strong golden rings, five on each beam, through 
which were passed the gilded bars that kept all the planks in 
place, and so kept the whole erection together. On the front 
side stood five gilded pillars of acacia wood with artistic capitals. 
These pillars rested on brazen sockets and supported a curtain, 
through which the Tabernacle was entered. ‘The curtain was 
arranged thus: At the top of the pillars were golden hooks hold- 
ing up gilded rods to which the curtain was fastened. In 
the inside was another curtain dividing the Tabernacle into two 
parts, the Holy and the Most Holy Places. It hung down from 
four gilded pillars, resting on silver sockets. The inner por- 
tion, which was the Most Holy Place, measured 10 cubits in 
length, breadth and height; the Holy Place had the same breadth 
and height, but was 20 cubits in length. 

The bare earth formed the floor, nor had the Tabernacle any 
wooden roof, the place of which was taken by coverings stretched 
over the framework. ‘These coverings were four in number 
(AUS ceo-o-4'aay 

The lowest covering was the most magnificent. It consisted 
(Ex. xxvi. 1, etc.) of ten cloths or curtains of white linen, fine 
but strong, prepared in such a way that on the white ground 
cherubim could be artistically worked with thread of a violet, 
dark red and bright red color. Each of the ten curtains was 
28 cubits long and 4 wide, and they were joined together 
in two sets of five, so as to form two large curtains each 
measuring 28 by 20 cubits, and the whole covering that they 


* The transport of such solid wooden pillars from one encampment to 
another must have caused great difficulty, though there was not so much 
hurry as in our day and in our countries. According to Num. vii. 4, ete., 
the heavier articles were laid on wagons drawn by oxen. 

* As beams measuring 114 cubits in breadth were perhaps difficult to 
obtain, it may be assumed that each consisted of two parts, firmly fas- 
tened together — the “two projections” seem to suggest this. Accord- 
ing to the reports of missionaries, however, even at the present time the 
acacia furnishes very substantial wood for building purposes in China, 


HOLY PLACES 71 


formed together was 40 cubits long and 28 wide. We are not 
told how the five separate parts of each half were composed ; 
but we know that each of the two at the end of the curtains had 
50 violet loops, placed opposite to one another, and fastened 
together by means of 50 golden pins, which gripped them on 
either side. This covering was arranged over the holy Taber- 
nacle so that the join down the middle lay precisely above the 
inner curtain. It must therefore have hung down 8 cubits 
on the two long sides (north and south) and 9 cubits at the 
back, behind the Most Holy Place. It was probably fastened 
down to the earth by means of pegs.* 

The second covering was less precious. It was woven of goats’ 
hair, and was composed not of 10, but of 11 pieces, each of which 
was 30 cubits long and 4 wide. Its total extent, therefore, was 
30 by 44 cubits. It, too, consisted of two parts, the front one 
being made of 6 pieces and the back one of only 5. These two 
parts were fastened together by means of 50 loops and 50 brass 
clasps, so as to form one whole. The part consisting of 5 pieces 
was spread over the Most Holy Place, and that of 6 pieces over 
the Holy Place. One piece hung over, and this was folded back 
and doubled on the front of the Tabernacle, to gain more 
solidity, so that it measured only 2 cubits, and projected for 
a space of 1 cubit, so as to form a kind of shelter over the 
entrance. At the other end of the tent this covering extended 
1 cubit beyond the former, and this was the case also at the 
sides, so that the second covering was a protection to the inner- 
most one, stretching 1 cubit beyond it in all directions. The 
fastenings, where the two halves were joined together, cannot 
apparently have been exactly above the entrance to the Most 
Holy Place, but about half a yard behind it. 


* If the planks were each 1 cubit in thickness, the covering could 
not have hung down more than 8 cubits, rather than 9, at the west 
end. That it hung outside is very probable, as this was, and still is, the 
usual arrangement for tents, and moreover there would have had to be 
some special means of securing it on the inner side, and no such thing is 
mentioned. The pegs (or pins) and cords of the Tabernacle are referred 
to in Ex. xxvii. 19; xxxv. 18; xxxviil. 20 and 31. The space thus formed 
under the coverings could be used for the storage of utensils and as a 
sleeping place (I Kings iii. 3). 


%2 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The two outer coverings are mentioned in Holy Scripture, but 
are not fully described. The lower one of these, i.e. the third 
covering, consisted of rams’ skins dyed red,’ the upper, or fourth 
covering, of tachasch skins.2, The tachasch was probably the 
sea-cow found in the Red Sea, and now called Manati; some 
authorities, however, believe that the badger is meant, as 
tachasch = to penetrate, creep in; and the badger lives in 
holes in the earth. We may reasonably suppose that the 
Tabernacle was not always erected with all these four cover- 
ings over it, but that often one sufficed. ‘The innermost ap- 
pears to have been intended chiefly as an ornament; the others 
served as protections against dust and storms. 

The two curtains separating the Holy and Most Holy Places 
formed each a square, measuring 10 cubits in each direction. 
They were made of the same materials as the first or innermost 
covering, but whereas the inner curtain also bore pictures of 
cherubim, the outer one had none, but was only embroidered 
in colors. 


2. Tur Court oF THE TABERNACLE 


(Ex. xxvii. 9, etc.) 


The Tabernacle that has just been described was always sur- 
rounded on all sides by a court. This was marked off on the 
outer side by a wall of curtains, 5 cubits in height. The 
court was 100 cubits long and 50 broad; on the north and 
south sides stood 20 pillars, and on the east and west sides 10. 
These had brass sockets and their capitals were covered with 
silver. Silver rods resting on hooks kept them in place, and 
supported the curtains, which were made of strong linen, and 
ran round the whole court, not, however, touching the ground, 
but being secured on the outer side by means of stakes (Ex. 
xxvil. 19). Towards the east the curtains projected only 15 
cubits beyond the corners, so as to leave in the center a space 


* Vulgate, de pellibus arietum rubricatis; Septuagint, dépuara xplwy 
Hpvopodavwpeva. 

* In the Septuagint the name is given as dépuara bakivOiwa; in the 
Vulgate, ianthine pelles = violet-colored hides. 


HOLY PLACES 73 


20 cubits wide, that served as the entrance. This was closed 
by another curtain embroidered with colors, 5 cubits high 
and 20 broad, hanging from four pillars. It took the place 
of a door. 

The holy tent was probably not erected quite in the middle 
of the courtyard, but nearer to its western than to its eastern 
end. Philo says that the two sides and the back were all at 
the same distance, viz. 20 cubits, from the outside boundary 
of the court, so that the open space in front of the Tabernacle 
formed a square of 50 cubits. 


Modern critics outside the Church declare the whole account of the 
Tabernacle to be a fiction. ‘“‘ We have to deal here not with historical 
facts but with unrestrained fancy” (Benzinger, 397). As in later times 
only the Temple in Jerusalem was the recognized place of worship, and 
as the performance of religious rites on high places and all sacrifices 
outside the Temple were strictly forbidden, the authors of the “ priests’ 
code ” invented the story of the Mosaic Tabernacle, as if Moses wished 
God to be served in only one place and had made these regulations to 
secure this end. “It is impossible that an uncivilized nomadic nation 
could have erected such a magnificent shrine in the wilderness.” ‘ An 
additional argument against the truth of the story is its inexactitude.” 

On the other hand the Egyptians were skillful craftsmen, and them- 
selves erected temples of similar construction. Why may we not believe 
that they imparted their skill to the Israelites? The latter nation had 
not come out of Egypt in a state of destitution (Ex. xxxiii. 24, 25, 29), 
so it is easy to account for the abundance of costly materials.1. The wood 
that they used for building is said to have been thet of the genuine acacia 
or schittah; if the story of the Tabernacle had been drawn from the 
imagination of men in later times, the wood mentioned would certainly 
have been that of the cypress or cedar, as known in Palestine. In fact, 
Philo understands schittah to mean cedar wood. This fact alone is 
enough to convince us that the Tabernacle really existed and was made 
on Sinai (cf. p. 69, note 4). The alleged inexactitudes in the descrip- 
tion vanish if a right. explanation is given, and the “ unrestrained 
fancies ” prove to be on the side of the modern critics, who always dis- 
cover what they want to find.’ 


1 Cf. also Num. xxxi. 22, where we read that the Israelites plundered 
the Madianites of the wealth of their mines. 

? Wellhausen feels obliged to recognize the existence of a tent cover- 
ing the Ark of the Covenant, but he will not admit that it is identical 
with the one described in Exodus xxvi. Passages containing clear refer- 
ence to the Tabernacle, such as Judges xviii. 31, I Kings i. 9, i. 24, ii. 22, 
xxi. 7, II Kings vii. 6, are arbitrarily pronounced suspicious, and ex- 
plained as later interpolations (cf. Kautzsch, Altes Testament). 


74 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


THE SACRED FURNITURE AND UTENSILS 


3. FURNITURE IN THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE 


In the court stood the altar of burnt offering or holocausts, 
and the laver. 

1. The altar of holocausts (Ex. xxvil. 1-8; xxxvui. 1, etc.) 
consisted of a framework of acacia wood, 5 cubits in length and 
breadth and 38 cubits in height. The frame was hollow and 
was filled up with earth and stones, so that the latter formed 
the altar proper. ‘The woodén sides were covered with brass,’ 
and provided at the corners with four brazen horns.? Half-way 
up the altar, i.e. at a height of 114 cubits from the ground, ran 
a projecting ledge about a cubit in breadth, having at its outer 
edge a copper grating or network resting on the ground; brass 
rings were attached to the four corners. This ledge served for 
the priests to stand on, so that they might more easily perform 
their duties at the top of the altar. The fire on this altar, 
which consumed the victims, was never allowed quite to die 
out (Lev. vi. 9, 12, 13). “ This is the perpetual fire which 
shall never go out on the altar.” 

2. The brazen laver, made of metal mirrors (Ex. xxx. 17- 
21; xxxvill. 8), stood between this altar and the Tabernacle, 
a little to the south. It is not clearly described in Holy Secrip- 
ture, but, on the analogy of the great basin in the Temple, we 
may imagine it to have been shaped like a cauldron, and of 
considerable size. Probably there were openings and taps at 
the sides for letting out the water when necessary, as it was used 
for washing the priests’ hands and feet, whenever they entered 
the Tabernacle, and also to cleanse the flesh of the sacrifice, and 
the sacrificial vessels and garments if they happened to be 


* nwmnj= something dense or hard; i.e. metal. The name is always 
given to es cyprium = cyprian brass, or copper with its alloys. 

* These horns suggest that the altar and the sacrifices were means of 
averting the punishments inflicted by God and also attacks from ene- 
mies, as an animal defends itself with its horns. Hence “ horn” often 
means power, strength, security, confidence; e. g. I Kings ii. 1; II Kings 
xxii. 3; Ps. xvil. 3; Luke i. 69. They have nothing to do with the 
representation of the deity in the form of an ox, as Benzinger imagines, 


HOLY PLACES v5 


stained. There was below the laver a base of brass to receive the 
water that flowed out of it (Ken).* Among the other furniture 
of the courtyard we have mention made of pots to hold the 
ashes, tongs, forks and censers. Besides there must certainly 
have been the apparatus required for slaughtering the victims 
and for skinning them; and tables on which the flesh of the 
sacrifice could be laid, such as were used later in the Temple. 


4. FURNITURE IN THE Hoty PLACE 


Three things stood here: the candlestick, the table for the 
loaves of proposition or shewbread, and the altar of incense. 
1. The golden candlestick (Ex. xxv. 31, etc.) stood sideways 


* The correct explanation of the words in Ex. xxxviii. 8 is doubtful: 


IV AN wy: TNin OnN TNS WAY WR NSIS NRW NWN) 132 NX Nw 
The Septuagint renders them: kal éroinoe Tov ovTipa Tov ‘yaxooy kal Ti 
Baow at’rod xarknv é€x Tov KaTOTTpUW TOY YnoTEVTATGY, ai eviTTEVoAaY Tapa THIS 
Ovpas THs oKnvis TOO waprupiov. Vulgate: Fecit et labrum weneum. cum basi 
sua de speculis mulierum, que excubabant in ostio tabernaculi. It seems 
certain that the word N¥2¥ denotes women who took some kind of 
part in the service of the Tabernacle. Knobel (Ea., p. 332) suggests 
that these were Levite women, who visited the sanctuary from time to 
time, in order to wash, clean and polish it; he says that figures of 
such women occur on basins. If he is right, we ought to translate: 
“He made the brazen laver and its brazen base with figures of serving 
women. .’? But figures of women with brooms, ete., would not 
probably be considered suitable for the sanctuary. The Hebrew 787), 
and xdrorrpoyv, mean, not figure, but mirror. It is more likely ‘that 
women are referred to, who lived austere lives near the Tabernacle, and 
sometimes were employed there, perhaps in baking, and in making the 
priests’ garments. Of. I] Mach. iii. 19, where, in the account of the 
plundering of the Temple, mention is made of ‘shut up” virgins (ai 
kaTaknhéioro. Tov mapSevwv) who sought by their prayers to avert the sacri- 
lege. The Septuagint translators must have been guided by some tradition, 
when they rendered the Hebrew 3 (= by, by means of, with) by éx, and 
RIN by vnore’w (= to fast, abstain). The sons of Heli were said to have 
sinned by behaving .0 an unseemly way towards such women (I Kings 
ii. 22). Jephte seems to have placed his daughter among these women in 
consequence of his vow (Judges xi. 31). The mirrors belonging to such 
persons might have been attached to the laver, in order that the priests 
could always see whether their clothes and faces were properly clean; 
but this would probably have been stated in the Hebrew in a separate 
clause. It is most likely that these women offered their metal mirrors 
as the material out of which the laver was made. This is the Vulgate 
interpretation, and Kautzsch takes the same view. 


76 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


on the south side of the Holy Place. It was of beaten work 
of the finest gold (therefore not massive), and it had seven 
branches, the one in the middle rising straight up, and the others 
being in pairs on either side of it. The central shaft rested 
upon a pedestal called in Holy Scripture jarek, 1. e. hip or loin; 
the name seems to have been selected because there were prob- 
ably feet lower down, whilst the upper part suggested a body 
with outstretched arms. On the branches were ornaments like 
the cup of a flower, consisting of a knob and a blossom. These 
were placed on the central shaft below the points where the arms 
branched off, and also at the place where the shaft joined its 
pedestal. Moreover, each side branch bore three such ornaments, 
so that there were twenty-two in all. At the upper ends were 
lamps, but these did not actually form part of the candlestick, 
and only rested on the seven branches. In shape they probably 
resembled the ordinary lamps of antiquity; that is to say, they 
were oval, having at one end a projecting wick and at the other a 
handle by which they could be carried. At the ends of the seven 
arms were slight depressions to hold them. The lamps cast their 
light inwards, towards the “side of the Countenance” on the 
north. Every morning they had to be taken down to be cleaned, 
and then were replaced.1 The purest olive oil was burned in 
these lamps. As accessories are mentioned (Ex. xxv. 38) golden 
tongs (probably snuffers) and dishes to hold the snuffers and 
wicks. 

2. The table of the bread of proposition or shewbread (Ex. 
xxy. 23-30) stood on the north side of the sanctuary, opposite 
the candlestick. It was of acacia wood, measuring 2 cubits 
long, 1 cubit wide and 144 cubits high, and completely cov- 
ered with sheets of gold. At the top was a projecting ledge 
of gold (misgereth = enclosure) as wide as a man’s hand, so 
that the surface of the table lay below it, and round about this 
margin ran a golden garland. To the legs of the table four rings 


* It is uncertain whether the lamps burned constantly, day and night. 
Josephus Fl. (Antig., VI, iii. 9) agrees with the Rabbis in saying that 
by day only three were alight, but at night all seven. While Lev. xxiv. 

tates that they were always (tamid) to be burning, it probably only 
».cans that the light ought never quite to be extinguished. 


HOLY PLACES a 


were fastened, through which rods could be passed, so that it 
might be carried. ‘The rods also were of acacia wood, overlaid 
with gold. Upon the table lay always twelve thin loaves? of the 
finest wheat flour; they were arranged in two rows of six, and 
Josephus Flavius assures us that they were unleavened. The 
Hebrew text calls them “loaves of the Countenance”; the Au- 
thorized Version has “shrewbread.” Every Sabbath they were 
taken away and replaced by fresh ones; and the priests ate 
the stale bread within the sanctuary. At this ceremony the 
incense near the loaves was burned (perhaps on the altar of 
incense). ‘The loaves were carried in on (probably two) shal- 
low dishes and set in order; the incense was placed in little 
bowls. Wine also was brought in (perhaps only on the Sabbath) 
in special jugs, poured into bowls and then offered as libations, 
being thrown out on the ground. All these accessories were of 
pure gold. 

3. The altar of incense (Ex. xxx. 1, etc.; xxxvii. 25, etc.) 
occupied a position in the middle before the inner curtain. 
It was four-cornered and made of acacia wood, measuring 
2 cubits in height and 1 cubit in length and breadth. It had 
a so-called “roof” (gag); i.e. a raised edge ran all round 
the flat upper surface, and a golden garland was fastened to 
the edge, as in the table of the shewbread. Below the gar- 
land were two golden rings on each side, through which staves 
were passed for carrying the altar. Horns were fastened to 
the four corners. ‘The whole was overlaid with gold. Incense 
was offered on this altar daily, both morning and evening. The 
ritual was as follows: ? 3 

A priest took some glowing charcoal from the altar of holo- 
causts and carried it in a golden vessel into the Tabernacle, 


1 The number refers to the twelve tribes of Israel, and the offering 
placed before the Face of God testified that they owed their bread to the 
Lord’s goodness. 

? Mishna, order Qodaschim, tract. 9; Thamid, chap. v.-vii. According 
to Isaias vi. 6 it appears that the charcoal was not laid immediately upon 
the top of the table, which would soon have been destroyed if this had 
been done, but it was placed on stones; probably pebbles. It is, however, 
possible that only the censer rested on the altar, although this is contra- 
dicted by the Mishna (cf. Heb. ix. 4: habens thuribulum aureum). 


78 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


whilst another carried the incense. ‘The first priest scattered 
the charcoal on the altar, and the second laid the incense upon 
it. Meanwhile the people stood in the court, engaged in prayer, 
and then they received the priest’s blessing. ‘The incense con- 
sisted of four ingredients, which were called collectively sam- 
mim == sweet perfumes. It had to be salted, and had to be 
clean and holy, i.e. some salt was strewn over it, as over every- 
thing offered in sacrifice; it was not to contain any foreign in- 
gredients, and after it was mixed, was to be used only in the 
sanctuary. It was forbidden, under penalty of death, to use 
incense mixed in this particular way for any profane purpose. 


5. Tuer Hoty or HOo.iss 


The ark of the Covenant stood here; it was a chest of acacia 
wood, covered with gold both inside and outside. Its length was 
216 cubits, its breadth and height 114 cubits. Round the mid- 
dle of it ran a garland of pure gold. At the four corners were 
golden rings, through which gilded rods were passed to enable 
the ark to be carried; these rods were never to be removed. 
Inside the ark was nothing but the two stone tables, on which 
the Ten Commandments were inscribed (Ex. xxvi. 16; Deut. 
x. 4, 5). According to Hebrews ix. 4, beside the holy ark 
were kept Aaron’s rod, and a vessel of manna. In Deuteronomy, 
xxxi, 25, ete., we read that the Book of the Law also lay beside 
the ark. Moses commanded the Levites: “Take this book and 
put it at the side of the ark of the covenant.” }i08 4¥D, é« mAa- 
ylov Ths KiBw@Tov, Vulgate, in latere arce. The book was, as it 
were, the commentary upon the Decalogue. 


* In Heb. ix. 4 the reading is é€v 7 (Kx«8wr@), which is generally trans. 
lated “in which [ark].” But év, like the Latin in, also means near, be- 
side. In Ex. xvi. 33 all that is said of the vessel of manna is that it was 
mm 1995 = before the Lord; Sept. évavrlov rot Oeov. In Num. xvii. 35 
(Vulg. xvii. 10) Aaron’s rod is commanded to be carried into the Taber- 
nacle for safe keeping. At the time of Solomon, according to III Kings 
viii. 9 and II Chron. v. 10, there were only the two tables of the law in 
the ark, but it is possible that for a time the vessel of manna and Aaron’s 
rod, probably cut short, were kept in it also. 


HOLY PLACES 79 


Over the ark was the Kapporeth, 1. e. a cover of pure gold. It 
was by no means intended merely to close the ark, but had a far 
higher purpose. This is implied by the fact that it was of solid 
gold, whilst the ark was only of wood overlaid with sheets of 
gold, and also by the command that the Kapporeth should be 
as long and as broad as the ark (Ex. xxv. 17), —1f it were only 
a cover, this would be a matter of course. Its true destination 
is suggested by the Holy of Holies being called the house of the 
Kapporeth. The word Kapporeth may indeed mean “ cover- 
ing,” but it may equally well be translated “place of atone- 
ment.”? The Kapporeth may be explained as God’s resting 
place. At either end of it, and inseparable from it, was a cherub 
of beaten gold, undoubtedly in human form, but with wings, 
which were stretched inwards over the ark. ‘The space between 
the two cherubim on the Kapporeth was considered to be God’s 
abode on earth. It was therefore called the Schekina = dwell- 
ing. From this spot God made answer to Moses and other 
leaders of the people, when they consulted Him on important 
matters.2 If the question is asked how we are to imagine this 
presence of God, whether it was perceptible to the senses or 
only perceptible intellectually, we may reply that the object of 
the Holy of Holies was to perpetuate the memory of the events 
on Sinai, and that for this reason we may believe the presence 
of God to have been perceptible in clouds and fire (Lev. xvi. 2; 
Ts. xxxvi. 15; I Chron. xii. 6). It is, however, improbable 
that this presence could always be perceived; as a rule, it was 
latent, and became visible only on important occasions. 


* The name comes from Kaphar, to cover; Kapper = to atone, propi- 
tiate. On the Day of Atonement every year the solemn ceremony of 
atonement had to be performed here. 

* Ex. xxv. 22: ‘‘ Thence will I give orders, and will speak to thee 
over the propitiatory, and from the midst of the two cherubims, which 
shall be upon the ark of the testimony, all things which I will command 
the children of Israel by thee.” Cf. Num. vii. 89; Deut. v. 7; I Kings 
ili. 3. 


80 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


II. THE TEMPLE 
(a) Solomon’s Temple 


6. INTRODUCTORY 


As long as the people of Israel were wandering in the 
wilderness, the Tabernacle and all its furniture and uten- 
sils were carried by the Levites (Num. iv.) from one en- 
campment to another... After the Israelites had taken pos- 
session of the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was erected in 
various places. It stood for a long time at Silo, then at Nobe, 
and later still at Gabaon. Meantime the ark had been sepa- 
rated from it, and during a war had passed into the possession 
of the Philistines, but they voluntarily restored it, and it was 
kept for a time in a private house, and then was placed by 
David in a specially erected tent? on Mount Sion, whence it 
was transferred to the new Temple. 

When the Israelites took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and 
obtained complete possession of the city, it was proposed to 
build a Temple to the Lord on Mount Moria,* according to the 


1 The Tabernacle stood within the camp. In Ex. xxxiii. 7, ete., we 
read that Moses erected a “ tabernacle of the covenant ” outside the camp. 
Benzinger (p. 370) follows Wellhausen in believing this to have been 
another tent and not the Tabernacle, which was required to be within it. 
The matter is, however, explicable in the following way: On account of 
their rebellious spirit the Israelites were not permitted to be in God’s 
immediate neighborhood, but later on (Ex. xl.) the holy Tabernacle 
was erected inside the camp, and the tribe of Levi was placed nearest to 
it, the other tribes were further away, three on each side of it. To the 
east was the tribe of Juda, and to the left of Juda was Issachar, and to 
the right Zabulon; to the south was Ruben with Simeon and Gad; to 
the west Ephraim with Manasses and Benjamin; and to the north Dan 
with Aser and Nephtali. 

* This was no longer the Tabernacle made by Moses, but a new tent, 
probably made in the same fashion as the Mosaic Tabernacle which re- 
mained in Gabeon, having possibly become damaged in course of time. 
Solomon had it solemnly removed and brought into the new Temple, 
where it was most likely kept in the upper story above the Holy of 
Holies. Allusions to it occur in III Kings iii. 4; I Chron. xxi, 29; 
II Chron. i. 3, 13; II Mach. ii. 4, 5. 

’ Moria is perhaps = 808 = Land of the Amorites. 


HOLY PLACES 81 


same plan as the Tabernacle.t King David collected a great 
quantity of materials for this purpose (I Chron. xxix. 2, ete.) 
and gave them and the designs that he had prepared to his son 
Solomon, who faithfully carried out his father’s wishes. He 
began to build the Temple in the fourth year of his reign, and 
completed it in seven years (III Kings vi). 

The surface of Mount Moria proved to be too small for the 
Temple, so huge walls were built up on the eastern side and 
the space between them and the hill was filled up with earth, 
and thus a sufficiently large site was obtained (Jos. FL, Ant., III., 
HI) Delle) id., VV. 1). | 

The stone and the cedar and cypress wood all came from 
Lebanon, as Solomon had made an agreement for this purpose 
with Hiram, King of Tyre; who supplied also some work- 
men, well trained in their art. Solomon gave Hiram in re- 
turn the products of his country, especially grain, oil and wine. 

Like the Tabernacle, its model, the Temple was divided into 
a house and a court. 


”. Tuer House oF THE TEMPLE 


(III Kings vi.—viii.; II Chron. iii—v.; Ez. xl.—xlii., xlvi.) 


The Temple proper, called the House (habbajith), was built 
of hewn stone, and measured 60 cubits in length, 20 in breadth, 
and 30 in height;— these are the inside measurements, not 
including the thickness of the walls. It had a flat roof. The 
interior was divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of 
Holies. The former was 40 cubits long, 20 broad and 30 
high; the latter was 20 cubits in length, breadth and height, 
as the other 10 cubits, deducted from the total height of the 
building, formed an upper chamber. The masonry was covered 
on the inside with wooden panels; these were not smooth, but 
were carved with figures of cherubim, palms, gourds and open- 
ing blossoms. Over these very thin plates of gold were fastened 
with golden nails, so that the carved figures showed through 
the gold with which they were covered. It is probable that 


1 In Wisdom ix. 8 the Temple is called ulunua oxnr9s ayias. 


82 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


some beams of wood were built into the masonry. The ceiling 
and the floor were also covered with wood and sheets of gold, 
but no figures were carved upon them. 

A door of sycamore wood with five corners,’ in the middle 
of the partition wall, formed the entrance to the Holy of Holies. 
It was 6 cubits in width (Ezech. xli. 3) and was in two 
parts; they, like the walls, were covered with gilded carvings, 
and turned on golden hinges. Both halves of the door were 
usually open, but it was not possible to see into the Holy of 
Holies, as a curtain of the same kind as that which hung for- 
merly in the Tabernacle (II* Chron. ii. 14) shut off all view. 
The Holy Place was entered by folding doors of cypress wood, 
but they folded back in two pieces on each side, and were orna- 
mented like the doors of the Holy of Holies. In front of the 
house of the Temple was a porch 10 cubits in depth, and run- 
ning along the whole breadth of the building (20 cubits) ; 
nothing is stated as to its height in III Kings, but in II 
Chronicles 11. 4 we are told that it was 120 cubits high. If 
this be correct, the porch must have been a kind of tower, but 
as we nowhere else find any suggestion of a tower, the number 
may perhaps be due to a copyist’s mistake. In the porch stood 
two thick columns, one known as Jakin and the other as Boaz. 
They were made by Churam of Tyre, a skillful artist (II Chron. 
il. 13). They were hollow, cast of brass, measuring 12 cubits 
in circumference and 18 in height, and on the top of each was 
a capital specially cast, 5 cubits high, so that the columns and 
capitals together measured 23 cubits, and this may have been 


the height of the porch.? 


* j,e. a quadrangle running up into a point at the top. 

? Saint Ephrem gives the following explanation of the names of these 
columns: “ Solomon called the one Jakin, i.e. ‘may he establish.’ This 
expresses the wish that the building may stand firm and be strong. He 
ealled the other Boaz, i.e. ‘in strength,’ so that together the names 
contain a request for strength and permanence” (Opera, ed. Rom. Syr. 
Lat., I, p. 460). The two names were sometimes taken to be those of 
people, perhaps of the two artists who made the columns; and both 
designations, D> and qyy5, actually occur elsewhere as proper names. An- 
other explanation might be: “ May he strengthen! with him is strength.” 
Benzinger quite arbitrarily assumes that the columns ‘ were unmis- 
takably copied from the pillars dedicated to Baal.” It would be more 


HOLY PLACES 83 


All round the outside of the Temple, except at the east or 
front, ran an annex (jazua==spread out) containing three 
tiers of chambers for the things used in the Temple worship 
and for storage of supplies. The beams supporting these stories 
rested on rebatements in the Temple wall at each story; the 
beams were not built into the wall. As the thickness of the 
Temple wall diminished by a cubit at each story, the chambers 
in the annex varied in width. At the basement they were 
5, above that 6, and in the third tier they were 7 cubits wide. 
The height of each story was 5 cubits. If the ceilings are 
included, we may assume that the whole annex was about 18 
cubits in height; the house of the Temple itself, being 30 
cubits high, rose considerably above it, and in the upper part 
of the wall on either side were windows, i.e. latticed openings 
intended to admit air rather than light. The Holy Place was 
lighted with lamps, but the Holy of Holies was totally dark. 
Doors on the north and south sides (Ezech. xli. 11) formed 
the entrances to the lowest story in the annex, and a winding 
staircase, beginning close to the door, led up to the apartments 
above. 


8. THE CourTS OF THE TEMPLE 


1. Round the house of the Temple was the Inner Court for 
priests. It was enclosed by a wall of hewn stone, covered with 
cedar wood, and, according to II Chronicles vil. 3, this court 
(and probably the other also) was paved with stones. 

2. The Outer or Great Court for the people seems to have 
surrounded the Inner Court on all four sides, and it was 
certainly also enclosed by a wall, as it had gateways with fold- 
ing doors. Jeremias xxxvi. 10 speaks of the Inner Court as 
the Upper; it was therefore on higher ground than that of the 
people, and it is most likely that the house of the Temple, 
following the form of Mount Moria, occupied the highest part 
of the hill, and was raised above the court of the priests. 

3. The extent of these courts is nowhere stated. As they 
were only enlarged copies of the court of the Tabernacle, we 


reasonable to regard them as copied from Egyptian obelisks, which often 
stood at the entrance to temples. 


84 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


may perhaps infer that the inner court was 200 cubits long 
and 100 broad, and the outer court about double the size. 


9. FURNITURE OF THE TEMPLE 


1. In the Holy of Holies stood the Ark of the Covenant. 
Apparently no new one was made, but Moses’ ark with the 
Kapporeth and the two cherubim upon it was transferred to 
the Temple (III Kings viii. 1, ete.; II Chron. v. 22, etc.).? 
Near the ark, however, were stationed two large cherubim, 1. e. 
figures of angels in human form, made of sycamore wood 
overlaid. with gold, keeping watch over it. Each figure was 
10 cubits high and had wings each 5 cubits long. One wing 
was stretched out backwards and touched the wall; the other 
was lifted forwards so as to meet the corresponding wing of 
the other cherub above the Kapporeth. ‘The figures stood up- 
right, with their faces turned towards the entrance (II Chron. 
iii. 13). The staves for carrying the ark, that were never 
removed, projected so that their ends could be recognized 
through the curtain (III Kings vui. 8). 

2. In the Holy Place stood: (a) The Altar of Incense near 
the curtain; it was of cedar wood overlaid with gold. (bd) 
Ten golden ovitaler etal: bearing seven lamps each; the candle- 
sticks were arranged five along the north and south walls re- 
spectively. (c) Ten tables of shewbread, five on each side. 
We have no information regarding the size and shape of all 
these things; they no doubt differed only in size from those in 
the Tabernacle. 

3. In the Inner Court were: (a) The brazen altar of holo- 
causts, 20 cubits in length and breadth and 10 cubits in height. 
In design it resembled that of Moses, and was filled up inside 
with earth and stones. It probably had several projecting 
ledges, on the uppermost of which the officiating priests stood. 
It must also have had steps, at least on the east side, as may 
be inferred from Ezechiel xlii. 17, “and its steps turned 

1 As at this time the ark contained only the two tables of the law 
(see p. 78), it seems probable that Aaron’s rod and the vessel of manna 


and the Book of the Law were kept, with Moses’ Tabernacle, in the room 
above the Holy of Holies. 


HOLY PLACES 85 


towards the east.” (b) The brazen sea or laver was a great 
round basin of water, 5 cubits high and 10 cubits in diameter 
at the top. It was cast of brass of the thickness of a man’s 
hand and had an edge curving outwards, beneath which were 
two rows of gourds as ornamentation. The laver contained 
2000 baths, i.e. about 360 hectoliters of water. It rested on 
twelve brazen bulls, three of which looked towards each quarter 
of the heavens, and presumably they stood on a brazen base. 
The water could probably be drawn off as required, by means of 
taps. It was used for washing the hands and feet, and also 
the flesh of the victims. We can scarcely suppose that the laver 
was filled by hand labor; there must have been some sort of 
aqueduct. Near the altar on the north and south sides were 
ten brazen stands with brazen basins upon them, intended for 
the reception of the flesh of the victims. These stands were 
four-cornered boxes, 40 cubits square at the top and 3 cubits in 
height. Under each were four wheels, so that they could be 
inoved to and fro when required, and convey the flesh to the 
laver and the altar. On the sides of these stands were bib- 
ical figures, — oxen, lions, and cherubim. The basins on them 
contained each 4 bath (about 7 hectoliters) and were remov- 
able. These stands and basins were not used either in the 
Tabernacle nor in the second Temple. On the completion of 
the building the ark was solemnly carried from Sion into 
the Temple, and the dedication took place (III Kings vii. 1, 
etc wel LeiGhrow, -y..1;>etc.): 

Solomon’s Temple stood for 416 years (1004-588 3B. c.) and 
was used as was intended during the whole time of the kings 
of Juda. In 588 it was plundered by the Babylonians and 
burned with the city of Jerusalem. The holy vessels and furni- 
ture, in as far as they were of precious materials, were. taken to 
Babylon. 


(b) The Second Temple 


10. ZoROBABEL’S TEMPLE 


After the Israelites were released by Cyrus, perhaps through 
Paniel’s influence (I Esdras i.), they returned home from the 


86 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Captivity in 536 B.c., under Zorobabel’s leadership, and at 
once restored the altar of holocausts on its old site and re- 
newed the daily sacrifices. At the same time they began to 
rebuild the Temple, but were so much hindered by the hos- 
tility of the Samaritans that building operations ceased alto- 
gether for fifteen years and were only resumed in 520; the work 
was then carried on with such zeal that the Temple was ready 
for consecration in 515. From Esdras vi. 3 it appears that 
the new Temple was larger in extent than Solomon’s,’ but far 
less magnificent, owing to the poverty of the Israelites. More- 
over, the chief treasure of the earlier Temple, the Ark of the 
Covenant,? was missing, and the Holy of Holies was empty. 
Where the ark should have stood, a stone was placed, on which 
the high priest set the censer on the day of Atonement. In the 
Holy Place was the altar of incense, a golden candlestick and 
a table for the shewbread; in the court was an altar of holo- 
causts built of stone; and a laver stood between the altar and the 
porch, somewhat to the south (Middoth i. 6; cf. Ecclus. 1. 3). 
The Court of the Priests was surrounded by a larger court for 
the people. In consequence of many costly offerings being 
made, this temple gradually became more magnificent, and the 
temple tax of half a shekel (about 30 cents), demanded yearly 
of every Jew, even in foreign countries, supplied funds for its 
decoration. 

In the second century before Christ, Antiochus Epiphanes 
plundered and laid waste the Temple and desecrated it by the 
worship of false gods. Judas Machabeus, after driving out the 
Syrians, repaired the buildings, as far as they had been injured, 
caused some of the furniture to be replaced by new, and had 
the Temple reconsecrated. This was the origin of the feast 
of the Encenia or Dedication (éykaiua, John x. 22, or dara). 
At this time strong fortifications were alded to the Temple, 


* It is said to have been 60 cubits high and 60 wide. 

? According to II Mach. ii. 4, 5, the prophet Jeremias in 588 “ com- 
manded that the tabernacle and the ark should accompany him, till he 
came forth to the mountain (Nebo) . . . and when Jeremias came thither 
he found a hollow cave: and he carried in thither the tabernacle, and the 
ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.” But afterwards 
the place could not be found (1. ¢., 6, 7). 


HOLY PLACES 87 


but nevertheless it was again taken by the Romans under 
Pompey (64 B.c.), and also by Herod the Great, who by the 
aid of Roman troops captured Jerusalem (37 B.C.) and stermed 
the Temple. 


11. Herrop’s TEMPLE 


Herod the Great showed his passion for building by enlarg- 
ing and altering the Temple, although he did not actually 
rebuild it. 

Work on the Temple began in 20 B.c., and in a year and 
a half the whole house of the Temple had been transformed ; 
all the building being done by priests and Levites, after the 
materials had been prepared and arranged for them. The 
courts were finished in ten years, but work on the surrounding 
buildings was still going on during our Lord’s lifetime, and 
even later. 

In the form that it now assumed the Temple area measured 
a stade, or 500 cubits, in each direction.? It was laid out in 
terraces, so that one court was on a higher level than the 
other, and the Temple itself occupied the top of the hill. 
It could therefore be seen from all parts of the city and also 
from a great distance, and presented a magnificent appearance. 

The outermost court was that of the Gentiles. It was sur- 
rounded by a high wall with several gates; it contained several 
halls, and was paved with colored stones. It ran round all 
the other buildings, enclosing them on all four sides. This 
huge court was generally filled with a crowd of people, and 
goods were sold in it as if it had been a market place. It was 
twice cleansed by our Saviour from this desecration. 

Within it, and on higher grounds, being reached by 14 steps, 


* The reason why Herod did not undertake to build an entirely new 
Temple, which would perhaps have been less costly, was, as many people 
think, because the prophet Aggeus (ii. 10) foretold that the second 
Temple should excel Solomon’s in glory. MHerod’s Temple is always 
spoken of as the second, never as the third. 

* 1 stade = J, geographical mile; so 4 stades = », mile = 742 meters 
(nearly half an English mile). The Talmud contains an account of this 
Temple (tract Middoth) ; see also Jos. Flavius, Antig., XV, 11, and Bell. 
TOV: 


88 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


was the Court of the People, also surrounded by a wall, on 
which were notices in Greek and Latin, warning the Gentiles 
on pain of death to go no farther. On the east side this 
court was entered by Nicanor’s Gate, which was very large 
and magnificent,’ and is called the Beautiful Gate in Acts 111. 
2 and 10.* Besides this gate there were several others on 
the- north and south sides, leading into the Court of the 
People, one on each side into that of the Women and three 
into that of the Men, for this Court was divided into a square 
and somewhat lower court assigned to the women, and a higher 
court for the men; the former lay nearest to Nicanor’s 
Gate. 

On the same level as the Court of the Men was that of the 
Levites, separated from it only by a low fence. In it was the 
great altar of holocausts, 15 cubits high, and at its lowest pro- 
jection 40-50 cubits broad, and, somewhat to the south, the 
huge laver. 

The house of the Temple was situated on rather higher 
eround. It was built of immense blocks of white marble and 
was richly gilded both inside and « utside, and had larger dimen- 
sions than the earlier temple. It consisted of a magnificent 
porch (100 cubits high, 100 broad and 20 deep); the Holy 
Place (40 cubits long, 20 broad and 40 high) and the Holy of 
Holies (20 cubits long, 20 broad and 40 high). The Holy 
of Holies was empty; the Holy Place contained the altar of 
incense, one golden candlestick and one table for shewbread. 
At the sides, as in Solomon’s Temple, there were three stories 
containing small rooms. The roof was a low gable, with gilded 
spikes on the gable. 

Such was the Temple where our Lord taught and worked 
miracles. Beholding it, He foretold its speedy destruction, and 
that no stone would be left upon another. This prophecy was 
fulfilled in the year 70. 


* This Nicanor is not to be identified with the Syrian General Nicanor, 
mentioned in the books of Machabees; it was an Alexandrian Jew who 
had this gate built. 

* The Beautiful Gate of the Acts, the Brazen Gate of Josephus and 
Nicanor’s Gate of the Mishna are identical. 


HOLY PLACES 89 


At the time of Nehemias* the Samaritans built themselves a temple on 
Mount Garizim near Sichem, which the Jewish king John Hyrcanus de- 
stroyed in 129 B.c. Another temple, also built to rival the Temple at 
Jerusalem, existed at Leontopolis (near Cairo) in Egypt. It was poorly 
equipped and was pulled down by the Romans under Vespasian. 


12. THE SYNAGOGUES 


Besides the Temple, but not as substitutes for it, for they 
were totally different, were the synagogues, cuvaywryat, houses of 
prayer or assembly. We hear of them only after the Captivity. 
No sacrifices could be offered in them, and therefore, since the 
destruction of the Temple, the Jews have had no sacrifices. In 
the time of our Lord, as at the present day, synagogues existed 
not only in Palestine but wherever Jews had settled. 


The requisites for the establishment of a synagogue are only (1) a 
cupboard for books on the side of the building towards Jerusalem — in it 
the parchment rolls of the Holy Scriptures are stored; (2) a lectern; 
the synagogue is especially the place where instruction is given in the 
law, and those learned in scripture are required to expound it; (3) seats 
for the congregation, the sexes being separated, the front row of seats 
being reserved for those learned in the law; (4) one or more candlesticks 
to give solemn light on important festivals. To keep order a ruler of the 
synagogue was appointed; he was assisted by a college of elders, and by 
a minister who had to attend to the opening, closing and cleaning of the 
building. 


* Of. John iv. 19. Josephus is in error when (Ant., XI, viii. 2) he says 
that this Temple was built in the time of Alexander the Great (see p. 52), 


SECOND SECTION 


HOLY PERSONS 


13. INTRODUCTORY 


INCE the Israelites quitted Egypt, the firstborn son of 

every family was dedicated to God for the purpose of 
attending to His worship (Num. vii. 17; cf. il. 13). Subse- 
quently the command was given that, instead of the first- 
born sons, all the males of a whole tribe should be in a peculiar 
way God’s property and look after His service (Num. iii. 41, 
etc.). This was the tribe of Levi, to which Moses belonged.* 
The reason for this change was probably that the setting apart 
of the firstborn would have caused excessive disturbances in 
the maintenance of families; however (Num. ii. 47), in order 
that the original custom should not be forgotten, every first- 
born son had to be redeemed by the payment of a sum fixed 
by the priest, but not exceeding five shekels. 

The task of the tribe of Levi was generally to preserve and 
continue the work of Moses. The Levites had to keep the 
Law of Moses free from all falsification; they themselves 
had to observe its precepts most strictly and instruct the people 


1 Fr. v. Hummelauer, S.J., in a monograph on the subject, has at- 
tempted to prove the existence of an Israelite priesthood before the time 
of Moses, that it was transmitted through Manasses from Joseph who 
had been admitted to the priestly caste of the Egyptians, and then was 
exterminated on Sinai, because it had lapsed into Egyptian paganism 
(Ex. xxxii.). This hypothesis might perhaps throw some iight on the 
lists in the early chapters of I Chronicles; but in Ex. xxxil. and xxxiii. 
the men killed are nowhere described as priests, and the account refers 
to the whole nation that had sinned through idolatry. It seems, there- 
fore, very unsafe to assume the existence of a priesthood before the time 
of Moses. 

* The book of the law was kept in the Holy of Holies, but there can be 
no doubt that copies existed for the use of the priests and Levites. In 
Deuteronomy xvii. 18, 19 we read that the king, when he wanted the 
book of the law, had to apply to the priests of the tribe of Levi. The 
law had to be read aloud to the people from time to time. 


HOLY PERSONS 91 


in the observance of the law. It was their business to watch 
over the manner in which the law was kept, to give verdicts 
in accordance with it, to hand it down in all its purity to their 
descendants, and, finally, to provide for the whole worship of 
God in the sanctuary. 

Unlike the other tribes, the Levites received no land as their 
property in Palestine. God alone was to be their portion. “ Levi 
hath no part nor possession with his brethren, because the Lord 
Himself is his possession” (Deut. x. 9). There were, how- 
ever, forty-eight places assigned to them as dwellings in the midst 
of the other tribes; a list of these is given in Josue xxi. 9-40. 
Besides these they had pasture ground for their cattle, but 
no land for cultivation. These forty-eight places were by no 
means the property of the Levites, who only lived there amidst 
the other inhabitants. 

The tribe of Levi had, however, a sufficient income, at least 
if the law was faithfully observed. To the Levites belonged 
all tithes, i.e. the tenth part of all the yearly produce of the 
fields and gardens, and of all cattle and sheep; and in addition 
the first fruits, i.e. the first produce of all the fields and gar- 
dens, the firstborn of all animals, and the sums paid for the 
redemption of the firstborn sons. They had also definite shares 
of all sacrifices. 

The duty of attending to the actual worship of God was 
imposed upon one particular family, viz. the descendants of 
Aaron. Aaron himself and the firstborn of his family in each 
generation were the high priests, all his other direct descendants 
formed the priesthood, and the whole tribe was subject to them. 
This division of his family corresponds with that of the sanc- 
tuary. The high priest had to serve in the Holy of Holies; 
the priests attended to all the ceremonies in the Holy Place, 
whilst the Levites were only required to help the priests in 
the court. 


14. Tre Le&viItTEs 


Levi, the founder of the tribe, Jacob’s third son by Lia, 
had three sons, Gerson, Cahath and Merari, so the tribe was 
divided into three parts, the Gersonites, the Cahathites and the 


92 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Merarites. ‘To these Levites were assigned thirty-five places as 
their dwellings, and as means of livelihood they had, besides the 
produce of their herds, a tithe of the produce of all fields and 
gardens and of all cattle. They had, however, to pay a tenth 
of this tithe to the priests. ‘They were summoned to take part 
at the sacrificial meals. 

They were admitted to the holy service by means of a special 
dedication, called taker = cleansing. 'They were sprinkled with 
water of purification, prepared for the purpose; their hair was 
cut off, and they washed their clothes. Then they came to the 
place of the sanctuary, where-the people were assembled, with 
two oxen destined for sacrifice. Here some men of the people, 
acting in the name of the nation, laid their hands upon the 
Levites, who on their part laid their hands on the oxen, which 
were then sacrificed, one being a burnt offering and the other 
a sin offering. After this ceremony, the Levites entered on 
their duties. 





It is easy to see that the laying on of hands on the part of the com- 
munity signified that the whole nation was really pledged to God’s ser- 
vice and was ready to perform it, but the Levites were the representa- 
tives of the people and especially of the firstborn. The Levites on their 
side acknowledged that they, as sinners, were unworthy to serve the Lord, 
and deserved death. As, however, in that case there would be no minis- 
ters for the sanctuary, they allowed the oxen to die in their stead, and 
signified that these creatures were their representatives by laying their 
hands upon them. 


The first dedication of the Levites in the wilderness was 
performed in the manner just described. It is uncertain whether 
this held good always, or was repeated subsequently. There is 
no record of a renewed dedication, and so probably the first 
dedication held good forever. 

We are not told anything of a special official clothing being 
prescribed for the Levites. It would seem that they wore the 
ordinary dress, both in daily life and when engaged in their 
sacred duties. In the performance of these duties the Levites 
were absolutely subordinate to the priests, and were regarded 
as their assistants (Num. vill. 26). They were forbidden to 
do sacrifice, and might not touch the furniture of the Holy 
Place, nor the altar of incense, under penalty of death (Num. 


HOLY PERSONS 93 


xviii. 3). During the wandering of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness, their business was to keep guard over the Tabernacle, for 
which reason they were encamped nearest to it, the Gersonites 
on the west, the Cahathites on the south and the Merarites on 
the north (Num. iii. 23, 29, 35), whilst Moses and Aaron and 
the priests were stationed on the east side near the entrance. 
The Levites had to erect the Tabernacle, and take it down 
when the march was resumed, and carry the parts of it, when 
it was taken to pieces, as well as the sacred furniture, which was 
all covered up. In Palestine they had to guard the Tabernacle 
and later the Temple, to open and to close it. Every day six- 
teen Levites kept watch at the gates of the Temple (I. Chron. 
xxvi. 12), and in the second Temple still more were employed 
because the spaces were so great and the gates so numerous.t 

Moreover, the Levites were required to clean the Temple and 
everything connected with it, to prepare the shréwbread and the 
cakes used at sacrifices, to procure and look after all the acces- 
sories of worship (garments, grain, flour, sait, wine, oil and 
beasts for sacrifice) and to supply whatever was wanting. Fur- 
ther, they were bound to provide for the music in the Temple 
and to arrange for the singing. They assisted the priests in 
slaying and skinning the victims. 

Besides serving in the Temple, the Levites acted as judges, 
and therefore they had to instruct the people in the Law and 
to punish transgressors in conformity with its precepts. Accord- 
ing to I Chronicles xxii. 4, there were four distinct classes of 
Levites: (1) ministers of the priests; (2) overseers and judges; 
(3) porters, or doorkeepers; (4) singers and musicians. They 
were bound to devote themselves to their official duties between 
the ages of 25 and 50.? 


Besides the Levites, there were other men employed in menial work in 
the Temple, such as cutting wood and carrying water. These were called 
Nethinim = given ones, bondmen (see Jos. ix. 27; I Chron. ix. 2; 
I Esdr. ii. 43 and 70). 


* The “ Officer of the Temple,” mentioned in Acts iv. 1, was probably 
the commander of the guard of Levites. 

2 Numbers viii. 24. In Numbers iv. 2 the age when a Levite could 
enter upon his duties is mentioned as thirty, but this passage refers to 
the removal of the Tabernacle during the wandering in the wilderness. 


94 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


15. Tuer PRIESTS 


Only the descendants of Aaron, Moses’ elder brother, be- 
longing to the Cahath branch of the tribe of Levi, were chosen 
by God to be priests. Aaron had four sons, two of whom, 
Abin and Nadam, were slain for their carelessness in the 
service of God (Lev. x. 1), so only the two remaining sons, 
Eleasar and Ithamar, could pass on the priestly office to their 
descendants. Not every one belonging to Aaron’s family was 
fit to be a priest; all were excluded who had any bodily defect, 
who were blind, lame, deaf, or suffering from permanent sores, 
etc. (Lev. xxi. 16, etc.). No fixed age is prescribed in the Law, 
but the age appointed for the priests no doubt was the same as 
that for the Levites. Thirteen of the Levite towns were as- 
signed to the priests as their dwellings. 

The maintenance of the priests was provided for by (1) tithes, 
which the Levites had to give over to them from their tithes; 
(2) first fruits of field and garden produce; (3) money paid for 
the redemption of the firstborn, each of whom was redeemed for 
a sum to be fixed by the priest, but not exceeding 5 shekels; 
(4) the first male born of all clean beasts had to be sacrificed ; 
the fat was burnt on the altar, but the rest of the carcass be- 
longed to the priests (Num. xvii. 18); (5) the first male born 
of unclean beasts either had to be killed, or a clean beast, that 
could be sacrificed, was substituted for it, and the fifth of its 
value was paid in addition; (6) the skins of all the animals 
used for burnt offerings, and definite parts of those used in 
other sacrifices, belonged to the priests. Their sources of in- 
come were abundant; they had no taxes to pay and were free 
from military service. It was to their own interest to preserve 
a knowledge and the observance of the law among the people; 
for only thus had they an assured income. 

Apart from their sacred duties, the priests wore the ordinary 
dress of the people, but when engaged in these duties they wore 
special garments prescribed by law. These were: (1) a tunic? 
with narrow sleeves, reaching from the neck to the ankles, and 


* njN2, from 13, to spin, weave. 


HOLY PERSONS 95 


made of white linen; (2) a head-covering,' made of byssus, in 
the shape of an inverted flower-calyx, so that it was a kind of 
hat; (3) a loin-cloth, also of byssus,? probably a large cloth, 
such as was worn also by other people beneath the tunic for the 
sake of decency (in Ex. xxviii. 42 it is mentioned as covering 
the middle of the body), as the ordinary garments reached only 
to the knees; (4) a colored girdle, of white, purple, crimson and 
dark blue threads, all interwoven. According to the Rabbis, this 
was 3 fingers in breadth and 32 cubits in length, so that it could 
be wound several times round the body. The priests wore no 
shoes, as the sacred places must be entered barefoot. 

The priest’s office consisted of the following duties: (1) Every 
morning and evening he had to put incense on the altar of 
incense, near the inner curtain in the Holy Place, and trim the 
lamps on the golden candlestick. The old shewbread had to 
be removed and the fresh substituted on the table of proposition 
every Sabbath.* (2) In the Court of the Temple the priests 
offered very many sacrifices on the great altar, where they kept 
the fire burning day and night. Every morning after the daily 
offering of incense, they blessed the people. (3) They were 
especially bound to uphold the Law of Moses, and therefore it 
was their duty to instruct the people in the law and to attend 
to the administration of justice (Deut. xvi. 8; xix. 17; xxi. 5); 
(4) among their extraordinary occupations were: (a) negotiat- 
ing about first fruits and the firstborn; (0) blowing the silver 
trumpets at certain festivals; (c) examining lepers and pro- 
nouncing them clean, as well as inspecting houses and garments 
infected with leprosy; (d) releasing Nazirites from their vows ; 
(e) performing the ceremony of the offering on behalf of women 
suspected of adultery. 

Priests were required to be in a state of cleanness whenever 
they discharged any part of their office. As long as they were 


* yan, Exodus xxviii. 40 and elsewhere. The word is connected with 
yrai, a cup, so the head-covering was probably cup shaped. 

7-43 1023, covering of cleanness; it does not mean breeches or 
drawers. 

* Of. page 75. Descendants of Aaron, who were disqualified from the 
sacred service by some physical defect, might eat of the loaves of proposi- 
tion or shewbread, but only in the court, not entering the Holy Place. 


96 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


engaged in the sacred service they might not drink wine nor 
anything intoxicating (Lev. x. 9) and remained apart from 
their wives (Ex. xix. 14). Even when not employed in their 
priestly duties, they were forbidden to touch any corpses (Lev. 
xxl. 1), with the exception of those of their nearest relatives 
(Ley. x. 6), nor might they wear mourning, for sin and its 
consequences are an abomination to God, and therefore no re- 
minder of it, such as mourning for the dead would imply, could 
be tolerated in His priests. If, accidentally, a priest incurred 
legal defilement, he could not discharge any sacred duty, nor 
eat anything consecrated, until, after the lapse of a definite 
time, he had been cleansed by legal ceremonies. ‘The priests 
were particularly bound to lead pure and blameless lives, as the 
law prescribed, and the same obligation rested also upon their 
families, so that even a priest’s daughter, who had fallen into 
immorality, was required to be burned to death (Lev. xxi. 9). 
It seems, however, that the priests often went astray, for the 
prophets frequently complain of their setting the people a bad 
example; e.g. Jer. v. 31; vi. 18; Mich. ii. 11. 


16. Tur Hien Prisst * 


(Exodus xxvili., xxix., xxxix.) 


The head of the priesthood was the high priest, who was 
always the firstborn of Aaron’s race, provided that he possessed 
the necessary physical and mental qualifications. His exalted 
position conferred upon him various prerogatives, so that he 
stood to the other priests in the relation of a father to his sons 
(“ Aaron and his sons”); but it was his duty to live a life 
peculiarly pure and blameless. 

Dress. Over and above the usual priestly attire (tunic, loin- 
cloth, girdle and head-covering) an official costume in keeping 
with his exalted dignity was given to the high priest and worn 
exclusively by him. If his head-covering be included, this cos- 
tume also consisted of four parts, viz.: 


1 The ordinary name is dyn jrian, sacerdos magnus, but occasionally 
he is called WRIT {713N, sacerdos princeps. 


HOLY PERSONS 97 


1. The Meili, a garment made of dark bluish purple, and 
worn over the priest’s tunic. It had an opening at the top, 
so that it could be passed over the head. ‘There were no sleeves. 
On the lower edge it was ornamented with artificial pome- 
granates made of yarn and twelve” golden bells arranged alter- 
nately. It probably reached only to the knees, so that the white 
tunic could be seen below it. 

2. The Hphod,? made of white linen skillfully interwoven 
with gold and colored threads, dark blue, dark red and bright 
red. It consisted of two squares of cloth, one covering the 
breast and the other the back. These two squares were fastened 
together and held in place by means of shoulder-pieces of gold, 
on each of which was an onyx.* On the two precious stones 
were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, six on 
each. The lower part of the ephod was fastened to the body 
by means of a girdle of the same materials. 

3. The Choschen,® or breastplate. This was a double square 
folded in half, so as to form a sort of pocket (not unlike 
the burse to contain the corporal). It measured half a cubit 
in each direction, and was made of the same material as the 
ephod. On the outer side were twelve precious stones set in 


2 Sy from Syn, upper; hence “ upper garment.” 

2 This is the number given in the apocryphal Gospel of Saint James. 
The Rabbis say seventy-two, but this is plainly too large a number. 

* )DN = dress. In every place where the word occurs, not excepting 
Judges viii. 27 and I Kings xxi. 9, it has this meaning. It never means, 
as Wellhausen suggests, the figure of a deity, or, as A. Miicklenburg as- 
sumes, a shrine in which to keep pictures. Kayser (Theol. d. A. T., 2d 
ed., 28) agrees with Wellhausen, and thinks “the figure of God took 
its name ‘Ephod’ from the fact of its being covered over.” But in 
that case the high priest too ought to have been called an Ephod. The 
question is connected with the assertion that the Pentateuch could 
not have existed as early as the time of the Judges and the first few 
kings, because representations of the deity existed, and the making of 
these is strictly forbidden in the Pentateuch. But a violation of the law 
in the midst of Gentile surroundings is no evidence that it did not exist. 
There is a proverb to the effect that “clothes make people,” but that 
clothes also make gods is something new. Cf. p. 39 and also p. 102. 

* Heb. priv, perhaps the sea-green beryl. The word means in Arabic 
“pale.” Sept., cudpaydos, Vulg., lapis onychinus; dvvé = finger nail. 

* jw from tw, to cut off, secure, keep. The meaning is certainly “ re- 
ceptacle,” and is correctly rendered d6x:0v by the Sept. 


98 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


gold, arranged in four rows, and bearing the names of the 
twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon them. At each corner of 
the choschen was a golden ring. To the rings at the two upper 
corners were attached little gold chains, having at their ex- 
tremities golden clasps, by means of which they were fastened 
to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, close to the onyx stones. 
Blue cords were passed through the rings at the two lower 
corners, and also through two other rings which were sewn 
on to the edge of the shoulder-pieces of the ephod below the 
arms. In this way the choschen was fastened to the ephod, both 
at the top and at the bottom, and so was drawn close to the 
breast and prevented from shipping out of place. 

Inside the choschen the Urim and Thummim were placed. 
What they were, is not explained, and the names do not help 
us; they probably mean “ Light and Right” or “ Clearness and 
Truth ”; Septuagint, d7Awots cal ddnGera; Vulgate, doctrina et 
veritas. The Jewish authors, Josephus and Philo and the Rabbis, 
are all at a loss as to the interpretation. It appears from 
Exodus xxvill. 16, 30, and from Leviticus vill. 81 that some 
solid thing is meant, which could be put into the choschen and 
taken out again, and that this served as an instrument whereby 
the high priest could ascertain God’s will in matters of im- 
portance. We may be sure that the Septuagint translation 
dnrAwots and ad7jGea has some foundation. The words signify 
clearing away of doubt and recognition of the truth. The 
high priest was believed to be inspired and capable of deciding 
upon the right course of action. 

4. The head-covering worn by the high priest was, according 
to Josephus (Ant., III, vu. 7) and Philo, the ordinary covering 
worn by the priests, with the addition of dark blue ribbon, to 
which a little gold plate was fastened, having engraved upon 
it the words “ Hely to the Lord ” — qodesch la adonai. The 
high priest did not always wear his official dress. As a rule, 
when he had only ordinary business to transact, he dressed like 
the other priests, but the ribbon and plate on his head-covering 


* The rational of judgment (rationale judicit) “shall be four square 
and doubled ... thou shalt put in the rational of judgment doctrine 
and truth ... the rational, on which was doctrine and truth.” 


HOLY PERSONS 99 


always distinguished him from them (cf. Kirchenlexicon, 2d ed., 
Vil 163.0169): 

Duties of the High Priest. The following duties were assigned 
exclusively to him: (1) To perform the important ceremonies 
on the great Day of Atonement. (2) To ascertain God’s will 
by means of the Urim and Thummim, and to make it known. 
(3) In the administration of justice to give the final decision, 
from which there was no appeal. (He seems to have presided 
at trials of important cases, and in the Synedrium.) (4) To 
watch over everything connected with the worship of God, and 
over the Levites and Priests. He could, of course, discharge 
all the priestly functions. 

Sanctity of the High Priest. Standing as he did near to God, 
and above the whole nation and the ordinary business of life, the 
high priest was strictly bound by the law: (1) to touch no 
corpse, not even that of his father or mother; (2) at the death 
of his nearest relatives to show no outward token of mourning 
and to omit none of his official duties; (3) to take a virgin as 
his wife, not a dishonored woman, or a widow, or a divorced 
person. 

Tenure of Office. The high priest retained his dignity until 
his death, if he were not disabled by sickness or old age, and so 
rendered incompetent to perform his sacred duties. Occasionally 
two high priests are mentioned as holding office at the same 
time, but only one of these is to be regarded as really acting 
as high priest. 


1%. CONSECRATION OF THE PRIESTS 


(Ex. xxix., Lev. viii., and also Ex. xl.) 


The ceremony whereby the Levites were set apart for the 
service of the Temple was called a purification (Num. vui. 6) 
(taher), but the consecration of the priests, hallowing (qad- 
desch). 'The consecration consisted of several parts, but, lke 
the purification of the Levites, it falls into two main portions, 
viz., the actual consecration and the accompanying sacrifices. 

1. The consecration was effected by bathing the body, put- 
ting on the priestly garments, and anointing. A specially pre- 


100 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


pared oil was used to anoint the priests’ hands, but in the case 
of the high priest some oil was poured also on his head. 

2. For the sacrifices a young bull, two rams, unleavened 
bread and other cakes were required. The newly consecrated 
priests laid their hands on all the animals before they were 
killed. The bull was slain as a sin offering; one ram served 
as a holocaust and the other as a thank offering. The right 
ear, right hand and right foot of the consecrated priest were 
smeared with the blood of the second ram. Whatever was not 
burnt of the flesh of the thank offering and whatever remained 
of the bread and cakes was eaten by the new priests as a sacri- 
ficial feast. 

The consecration was not completed for seven days, but the 
first day was the most important. On the six other days the 
anointing was repeated and other sin offerings sacrificed, and 
on the eighth day the priests entered upon their office. 

It was thus that Aaron and his sons were admitted to the 
priesthood. Whether the same ceremonies were observed in the 
case of subsequent priests and high priests is not certain. 
According to the Rabbis? all that was necessary for a high priest, 
on entering office, was to put on Aaron’s robes and to offer an 
unbloody sacrifice (Lev. vi. 14, etc.). The same rule applied to 
all priests, and no further ceremonies were required. ‘This is 
quite in harmony with the spirit of the Old Testament. The 
Holy Spirit had not yet been poured forth, and the idea of 
individuality had not yet been so fully developed as in the 
New Testament, and hence the consecration of each priest was 
unnecessary, as the father of his tribe continued to live in him 
and his dignity was transmitted by the act of procreation. 
Just as Abraham’s blessing passed on to the whole of God’s 
people, so the consecration of Abraham’s family affected ali 
their descendants. In Hebrews vii. 15, 16, emphasis is laid 
upon the fact that, in contrast to Christ’s spiritual priesthood, 
Aaron’s priesthood was propagated according to the flesh, i. e. by 
procreation. Hence, after the Captivity all were excluded from 


* Exodus xxix. 29 may be understood to mean that each high priest was 
to share in Aaron’s consecration if he put on the garments of the founder 
of his line, and if his hands were anointed. 


HOLY PERSONS 101 


the priesthood who could not prove with certainty that they were 
descended from Aaron (Esdras ii. 62; Nehemias vi. 64). Cf. 
page 91, on the purification of the Levites. As in time the 
number of priests increased very greatly, David arranged for 
their division into twenty-four classes or courses, each under 
a chief (I Chron. xxiv. 3, ete.), and each course in turn had 
to officiate in the sanctuary for a week, from Sabbath to Sab- 
bath. The various offices connected with the Temple worship 
were assigned by lot; and according to the Talmud there was 
a special superintendent of the lots (cf. Luke i. 9). 


The Mosaic Origin of the Priesthood and of Levites. — Wellhausen 
(Proleg., 121, etc.) denies that the distinction between priests and Levites ° 
dates from the time of Moses and claims that Ezechiel did not recognize 
it as the sharp distinction which the Priests’ Code ascribes to it; and so, 
argues Wellhausen, the Priests’ Code did not exist at the time of Ezechiel. 
In his vision of the restoration of Israel and particularly of the Temple 
after the Captivity, Ezechiel says (xliv.) that only the descendants of 
Sadok, who had acted as priests in Jerusalem from the time of David on- 
ward, might officiate in the new Temple, but those priests of the tribe of 
Levi who, here and there in the country, had gone astray and served false 
gods, should thenceforth (in the persons of their descendants) be admitted 
to only the lower duties in the Temple worship, as a punishment for their 
guilt. They had forfeited their priesthood by misusing it in order to wor- 
ship on high places. Wellhausen thinks that Ezechiel is the first to dis- 
tinguish priests and Levites, in much the same way as the distinction 
between Israelites and Gentiles on the one hand, and that between the 
mass of the people and those engaged in the worship of God on the other, 
should not be referred to any very remote period. “In the chief part of 
the Book of Judges there is no mention of any one officially engaged in the 
cultus; we hear twice of sacrifice being offered, but it is by Gideon and 
Manoah. A priest was not thought necessary. ... If the priests and 
Levites living in the midst of the Children of Israel had been so arranged 
from the time of Moses, they could not have vanished completely in the 
time of the Judges.” In I Kings vi. 15 Levites are indeed mentioned as 
serving in connection with the ark of the Covenant, but this is regarded 
as a later gloss. 

In answer to all this we may say that before the building of the Temple 
the divine worship was not organized with the regularity of later times. 
The constant wars which kept the people in an unsettled state, the novelty 
of all their circumstances and the prevalence everywhere of heathen cus- 
toms, which could not but affect the Israelites, did not admit of an orderly 
observance of religious rites. It was a long time, for instance, before 
Christianity prevailed in Germany and displaced the heathen customs, 
traces of which still exist in some places. It is, however, clear from the 
story of Heli and Samuel that the central sanctuary, first at Silo and 
then at Nobe, was generally respected, and that a large number of men 


102 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


were already engaged in the religious worship. Saul had eighty-five 
priests from Nobe killed at one time (I Kings xxii. 18). Even if indi- 
viduals here and there, following the custom of olden times, offered 
sacrifice elsewhere in their capacity as heads of families or even as 
private persons, this might be still tolerated as an ancient custom. Strict 
centralization was possible, however, and its necessity appeared more 
and more after the Temple was built, for the isolated sanctuaries in 
the country had become for the most part the homes of superstition, im- 
morality and idolatry. 

In support of his theory, Wellhausen relies: (1) upon the Book of 
Judges, in the greater part of which (iii.—xvi.) there is no mention of a 
class of persons engaged in religious observances; (2) upon the same 
book, which in an appendix (xvii., xvili.) speaks of a priestly function 
in a way that does not agree with the Pentateuch; (3) upon II Kings 
viii. 18, where we read that David’s sons were priests, which, according to 
the Pentateuch, they could not have been permitted to be. 

In reply it may be stated (1) that other passages of the Old Testa- 
ment, belonging to a later period, also contain no mention of a priestly 
class, because there is no reason why such mention should be made in 
them. For instance, in the first and second sections of the Psalms the 
words priest and Levite do not once occur; and yet, according to modern 
critics, the whole psalter belongs to the period after the Captivity, and 
Wellhausen even regards it as doubtful whether any psalms of an earlier 
date exist. Is it possible to argue from the silence of these two sections 
that there was no legally established priesthood even after the Captiv- 
ity? No! Therefore it is not permissible to prove from the above-men- 
tioned chapters in the Book of Judges that in the time of the Judges 
the official priesthood organized by Moses did not exist. 

(2) That even in that remote period the tribe of Levi was officially 
connected with public worship appears as a recognized fact in Judges 
xvii. and xviii.—the very chapters upon which Wellhausen relies. 
Michas, an Ephraimite, caused a costly metal statue of Yahweh to be 
made, and appointed one of his own sons to be priest of this statue and 
of the little temple erected to contain it. That this was an abuse, aris- 
ing probably out of superstition, is suggested by the words, “ In those 
days there was no king in Israel, but every one did that which seemed 
right to himself.” Then a Levite named Jonathan came into the dis- 
trict from Bethlehem.’ Michas persuaded him to remain with him as 


1 As Bethlehem was not a Levite town, it has been suggested, as this 
place is mentioned as Jonathan’s home, that he belonged to the tribe of 
Juda, and that, in the time of the Judges, the word Levite did not mean 
a man belonging to the tribe of Levi, but one of the wandering people, 
who, being descended from Egyptian priests, practiced all manner of arts 
(fortune-telling, etc.), like our modern gypsies. Their ancestors are 
supposed to have left Egypt with Moses, and in course of time they 
succeeded in securing plenty of money on the ground of their priestly 
powers. The text of the Book of Judges, however, contains a clear 
sattement that Jonathan was descended from Moses, and consequently 
from Levi, Jacob’s son. ‘Jonathan, the son of Gerson, the son of 
Moses ” (xviii. 30). His residence in Bethlehem had nothing to do with 


HOLY PERSONS 103 


priest, in place of his son, in return for payment, food and clothing, and 
the Levite consented. Michas felt quite happy at having “a priest of 
the race of the Levites” with him. Afterwards men belonging to the 
tribe of Dan, in the course of their wanderings to their new settlement, 
came to Michas, and violently deprived him of his statue and all con- 
nected with it, including the Levite, and erected a sanctuary for them- 
selves in their new home farther north. Thenceforth the Levite was 
their priest. That the tribe of Levi “was completely destroyed at the 
first attempt to conquer Chanaan” (Volck, p. 44) cannot be inferred 
from Genesis xlix. 5—7, as the tribe of Simeon, mentioned in the same 
verses, continued to exist. 

(3) While the sons of David are called Kohanim in II Kings viii., 
this word cannot here bear its ordinary meaning of “priest.” In 
verses 16-18 the men are named who held posts of honor at court; Joab 
was commander of the army, Josaphat was recorder, Sadok and Achime- 
lech were priests, Saraias was the scribe, Banaias was set over the body- 
guard and “ David’s sons were Kohanim.” As the priests are mentioned 
in verse 17, the word Kohanim must receive another interpretation. The 
Septuagint renders it avAdpyat. Probably the king’s sons held some high 
offices about the court, that we no longer know. The word is generally 
translated “princes.” By designating the king’s sons Kohanim, as if 
they were priests, the writer suggests that they lived with the king as 
his confidants in the same way as the priests dwelt with God in the 
sanctuary. The king represents God’s majesty. (Cf. I Chron. xviii. 17, 
where David’s sons are called the first at the king’s hand. 


APPENDIX 
THE SYNEDRIUM AND THE JEWISH SECTS 
The Synedrium 


or Sanhedrin, the Council of the Jews, was, during the closing period of 
the Jews’ existence as a State, the chief religious and political body, hav- 
ing authority to decide on the most important matters in the national 
life, and claiming also the right to pronounce sentences of life and death. 
Our Saviour and the Apostles, Saint Stephen also and Saint Paul, were 
all brought before this tribunal, which was formed on the lines laid 
down by Moses (Ex. xviii. 25; Num. xi. 16) of seventy of the chief 
priests, elders and doctors of the law, and met under the presidency of 
the high priest, generally in one of the side buildings of the Temple, but 
occasionally in the high priest’s house. 


Jewish Sects 


1. Mention is often made in the New Testament of Scribes, doctors 
and teachers of the law (ypaupareis, vomuxol, vouodibdoxado.) ; these per- 


his descent; possibly his mother came thence, as in xvii. 7 we read that 
he was “ of Bethlehem Juda (NAIM NTDwW) of the kindred thereof, and 
he was a Levite and dwelt there (OWw-7} sammy) .” 


104 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


sons were not connected with the Temple worship in these capacities, 
but belonged for the most part to the sect of the Pharisees, the upholders 
of the claims and doctrines of orthodox Judaism. Their name comes 
from parasch, to separate, and means “ those set apart,” those who by 
their piety and wisdom are conspicuous above the mass of the people. 
Their reputation was so great that even the priests, who formed the 
hereditary aristocracy of the nation, found it expedient to join this sect, 
in order to retain their prestige, and the Council or Synedrium consisted 
chiefly of Pharisees. They seem to have originated before the time of the 
Machabees, as they were already strong and influential under Jonathan 
Machabeeus in 144 B.c. (Jos., Ant., XIII, v. 9). Besides the Holy Scrip- 
tures they reverenced a particular tradition, which they ascribed to 
Moses, as the source of the Law; this developed later into the Talmud. 
The sect was at first worthy of high esteem, but it gradually degenerated, 
and at the time of our Lord the Pharisees appear as sanctimonious per- 
sons, full of uncharitableness, pride and avarice. There were, however, 
noble exceptions, e.g. Nicodemus (John iii.) and Gamaliel (Acts v. 34). 
Inasmuch as they were the expounders and teachers of the Law, they re- 
ceived the honorable title of Rabbi = master (135, from 125, much, 
great = magister). 

At the time of Christ there were two famous teachers with a numer- 
ous following, — Shammai and Hillel. The former represented the strict- 
est school of thought, especially with regard to divorce; the latter ad- 
hered to milder doctrines and practice. 

2. In direct contrast to the stern Judaism of the Pharisees were the 
easy-going views of the party of the Sadducees, which had penetrated 
into Palestine from the west after the Greco-Persian wars. It is impos- 
sible not to recognize a connection between the Sadducees and the Epi- 
curean philosophy. In origin and name this sect is generally derived 
from a certain Sadok, a disciple of Antigonus of Socho (died 264 B.c.). 
According to another account they called themselves Zaddikim = honest 
people. It is, however, most probable that they declared themselves to 
be Sadokides, i.e. members of the high priest’s party, for, from the time 
of David, the high priesthood remained hereditary in the family of Sadok. 
They accepted Holy Scripture, at least the Pentateuch, but no tradi- 
tions. They believed in God, but not in angels; declared the soul to be 
material and mortal, and consequently rejected the doctrines of the 
resurrection of the body and of future rewards or punishments; more- 
over they denied the action of Divine Providence. This sect consisted 
chiefly of rich and powerful persons, for which reason it became influen- 
tial in the Synedrium, and secured the high priesthood (Acts xxiii. 6, 
etc.), but it never won much esteem among the nation as a whole (Jos. 
Fl, Bell. Jud., I], villi. 14; Ant., XVIII, i. 2). 

3. The Hssenes are not mentioned in the Bible, but Josephus and 
Philo describe them as ascetics, who apparently had added to Judaism 
the tenets of heathen and especially of the Pythagorean philosophy. 
Various explanations are given of their name; it may be derived from 
an Aramaic word chdsé, pious, pl. chasén, chasajja. They formed a kind 
of religious order governed by definite rules and divided into four classes. 
They conceived of the Deity as the purest light, and the sun they re- 
garded as His symbol. They honored Moses and his law; believed in the 


HOLY PERSONS 105 


immortality of the soul; observed the Sabbath very strictly but re- 
jected the Jewish sacrificial worship. Their morality was based on love 
of God and man, and on self-control. For love of God they sought to 
lead pure lives and always to speak the truth; their love of man showed 
itself in good will, charitable deeds and community of property. They 
exercised self-control by despising wealth, honors and pleasures, and 
many refrained from marriage. They lived partly in settlements of their 
own near the Dead Sea, partly in the midst of other Jews in towns and 
villages, supporting themselves by the work of their hands or by agri- 
culture. Their number did not exceed four thousand. 

4. A fourth, and probably not numerous sect, was that of the Hero- 
dians, who are mentioned a few times in the New Testament. They were 
adherents of the Herodian royal family, and were therefore inclined to 
favor the Romans, and were hostile to the Jewish religion. 


THIRD SECTION 


SACRED RITUAL 
I. SACRIFICES 
18. WHAT COULD BE OFFERED 


S a rule it was required of an Israelite coming to the 

Temple, that he should not appear empty handed. The 
gifts which might be offered up in honor of God were partly 
unimal, partly vegetable, and also salt. Only clean, domestic 
animals could be sacrificed, viz. (1) oxen (bullocks, cows and 
calves); (2) rams, sheep, lambs, goats and kids; (3) doves 
(turtledoves and young pigeons = bene jona). The latter were 
sometimes offered by the poor, who could not afford to give 
more costly creatures, but sometimes they served for the less 
important sacrifices.*| The animals for sacrifice had to be with- 
out blemish; they might not be mutilated or deformed, blind, 
or affected with sores or wounds; they must not walk crooked, 
etc. (Lev. xxii. 19-25). Moreover, they must have reached a 
certain age; the young must be at least eight days old; sheep 
and goats were generally sacrificed when a year old, and bullocks 
when three years old. 

The following vegetable products might be offered: (a) grain, 
including ears of grain, flour, bread and cakes variously prepared ; 
(b) garden produce, fruit, especially grapes, wine and olive 
oil; (c) imeense. Salt was used at all sacrifices both bloody 
and unbloody. The incense and even the blood were salted. 


* Leviticus xii. 6: A woman after childbirth had to offer a lamb and 
a pigeon, or, in case of poverty, two pigeons. Leviticus xv. 14 and 29: 
Certain defilements required to be cleansed by the sacrifice of pigeons. 
Numbers vi. 10: A Nazarite who had broken his vow had to sacrifice 
two pigeons, 


SACRED RITUAL 107 


The chief sacrifices always consisted of animals. A man doing sacri- 
fice may give what he possesses. The Israelites were originally a pas- 
toral people. (Gen. xlvi. 34: “ We are shepherds . .. both we and our 
fathers.”) It was only later that they practiced agriculture also, and 
hence the sacrifice of animals was always the most important, especially 
as the sense of guilt finds its serious expression in shedding the blood of 
the sacrifice. This is implied also by God’s satisfaction at Abel’s sacri- 
fice, whose faith is extolled in Heb. xi. 4. Abel in spirit beheld the 
future Redeemer, but Cain did not recognize Him. 


Honey and leaven were expressly forbidden.* 


19. Rirvuau oF SACRIFICE 


Animal sacrifices were performed in the following way: The 
animal was brought into the court of the Tabernacle or Temple, 
for it was forbidden, under pain of death, to offer sacrifices else- 
where. It was tied up to a ring fastened in the earth, and the 
person offering it laid his hands on its head. (This was omitted 
in the case of the Paschal lamb, and of pigeons.) The meaning 
of this ceremony was that the sin of the offerer passed over to 
the victim, who was to die in place of the sinful man.? Accord- 
ing to the Rabbis (Otho, Lex Rabbin.), a confession of sin accom- 
panied the laying on of hands, the words being as follows: 


“IT have sinned, have acted amiss, have been rebellious, especially have 
I committed* ... But I return to Thee full of repentance. May this 
[i.e. the offering of the victim] be my expiation! ” Cf. Numbers v. 6, 7. 


* Leviticus ii. 11: “ Neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the 
sacrifice to the Lord.” The reason is probably that honey by its sweet- 
ness symbolized sinful sensual enjoyments, and leaven as the means of 
fermentation typified that inherited element in human nature which al- 
ways keeps it in a state of wild passion, viz. sensual concupiscence, 
which originated in sin and leads to sin. Sin, and all connected with it, 
had to be excluded from the altar of sacrifice, which was undefiled, a 
place dedicated to God, raised above the sin-stained earth. 

* Leviticus i. 4: ‘He shall put his hand upon the head of the victim, 
and it shall be acceptable and help to its expiation.” 

* The confession of sins answers a need of human nature and has at 
all times appeared as accompanying true penance. Adam had to acknowl- 
edge his guilt and did so, but Cain refused (Gen. ili. 11, iv. 9). David 
says of himself, “ Because I was silent my pain consumed me.” He 
rightly perceived that sacrifice alone was not enough. Si voluisses sacri- 
ficium, dedissem utique (Ps. 1. 18). Happily for him God sent the 
prophet Nathan, before whom he acknowledged his guilt (II Kings xii. 


108 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Thus laden with the sin of the offerer, the victim was slain 
on the north side of the altar, generally by the person who 
offered it, but it might be done by the priest (II Chron. xxix. 
24). The priest caught the blood in a vessel, and, according 
to the kind of sacrifice intended, he sprinkled some of it either 
on the side of the altar, or on the horns, or on the altar of 
incense, or even towards the Kapporeth in the Holy of Holies. 
The rest of the blood was poured out on the ground near the 
altar of holocausts (Lev. iv. 7). Then the victim was skinned 
and cut to pieces. Either all the flesh was laid upon the altar 
and burnt, or only some of the fat was consumed by the altar 
fire, and the rest of the flesh was cooked and eaten by the 
priests, or used by the offerer of the sacrifice for a sacrificial 
feast, or burnt outside the city or encampment. 

When pigeons were offered, the priest killed them by breaking 
their necks, not by cutting off the heads (Lev. 1. 15; v. 8).* 
Apparently a cut was then made in one place, and the blood 
was allowed to drip on the side of the altar. The wings were 
slightly torn and then the birds were thrown into the fire on 
the altar. Vegetable offerimgs were seldom made alone, but 
generally in conjunction with bloody sacrifices. The procedure 
was as follows: (1) If the sacrifice belonged to the class of 
burnt offerings, the priest took only a small portion of the flour, 
cakes, ete., and burnt it with incense on the altar. The rest 
belonged to the priest, but had to be eaten unleavened in the 
Court, after being prepared for food. If the offerer were him- 
self a priest, the whole was burnt. If the sacrifice was a peace 
offering, one cake out of all that were brought was taken for 
the Lord and given to the priest; the rest was used by the 
offerer for a sacrificial feast. 


13). The Baptism of John was connected with confession of sins (Matt. 
iii. 6). It cannot, however, be maintained that under the old dispensa- 
tion a special confession of sins was a conditio sine qua non of forgive- 
ness. Special confession was ordained first by Christ (John xx. 23). 

1 The Hebrew p72 means to break off; Septuagint, dmoxvifew; Vul- 
gate, retorquere ad collum, ad pennulas. It seems that the neck was not 
wrung, but violently bent backwards, so that the throat was separated 
inside from the body, remaining united to it only by the skin. 


SACRED RITUAL 109 


20. VARIETIES OF SACRIFICES 


According to the objects brought as offerings, sacrifices were 
divided into (1) bloody, or slain offerings, and (2) unbloody, 
or meat and drink offerings. According to the reasons for 
offering the sacrifices they were distinguished as (1) holocausts, 
or burnt offerings; (2) peace offerings; (3) sin offerings; (4) 
trespass offerings. 


There can be no doubt that the offerings have a symbolic meaning. In 
the New Testament we have but one sacrifice, which, however, contains 
all the various sacrifices of the Old Testament, and they were merely 
foreshadowings of it. The holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a holocaust, — 
the whole victim, the Lamb, who hung in burning agony on the Cross, is 
offered up; it is a peace offering —a sacrificial feast takes place, at 
which Christians appear as God’s guests; it is a sin offering, for our 
sins constrain us to offer this holy sacrifice in order to appease the wrath 
of God; it is a trespass offering, — making reparation for the wrong 
done to God, and obtaining reconciliation with one’s neighbor, hence the 
kiss of peace. It is at the same time a bloody and an unbloody sacrifice. 





(a) Bloody Sacrifices 


21. HoLocausts, oR BURNT OFFERINGS 
(Leviticus i. 3-17, vi. 8-13) 


1. Name. The Hebrew name for this kind of sacrifice is 
ola == that which rises, i.e. that which rises to heaven from the 
altar as a fragrance pleasing to God. Still more expressive are 
the Greek names, oAoKavT@pa or oAOKaUTwats, selected by the 
Septuagint with reference to the Hebrew word kali,’ or 
oddKaveTov, which Philo uses. All these signify that the 
whole victim was burnt. The Vulgate has adopted the word 
holocaustum from the Greek. The words “burnt offering” are 
less expressive. 

2. Ritual. Only male animals could be used for these sacri- 
fices; in fact, in all animal sacrifices males are preferred, as 
being larger and stronger. Every kind of animal that could be 
sacrificed at all might be offered. The victims were brought 


* Deuteronomy xiii. 17, xxxiii. 10; I Kings vil. 9; Ps, li. 22: 


110 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


in, hands were laid upon them, and they were slain, as in all 
sacrifices. The blood was sprinkled round about the altar. The 
skins belonged to the priest, who did not as a rule take them off 
himself, this being done by the offerer. The animal was cut to 
pieces, its entrails taken out and purified, and then the whole 
was burnt together on the altar of holocausts in the Court. 
Only the sinew of the thigh (the so-called sciatic nerve) was 
removed. ‘The reason for this is stated in Genesis xxxll. 82, 
“therefore the children of Israel unto this day eat not the 
sinew that shrank in Jacob’s thigh, because He [God] touched 
the sinew of his thigh and if shrank.” 

Just as men are not accustomed to eat flesh without bread 
and drink, so with every holocaust was connected an unbloody 
addition, a meat and drink offering. The materials and quan- 
tities of these offerings varied in accordance with the animal 
sacrificed. There was no unbloody sacrifice connected with an 
offering of doves. 


The holocaust was the most usual form of sacrifice. Twice daily, 
morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in accordance with the law; 
and in addition similar offerings were prescribed on various occasions, 
such as the purification of women after childbirth, of those who had re- 
covered from leprosy, etc. There were also voluntary holocausts (Ps. 1. 
20), and these might be offered even by Gentiles. According to Philo, 
the Emperor Augustus had a bull and two lambs offered for himself 
daily as holocausts in the Temple at Jerusalem. 


22. PEACE OFFERINGS 
(Lev. iii. 1-17, vii. 11-21, vil. 28-86) 


1. The second kind of bloody sacrifice is known by various 
names; the commonest is schelem, or sebach schelamim = 
peace offering '= elpnuxny sc. Ovola (Sept.); the others are 
sebach hattoda—=thank or praise offering, sebach neder= 
votive offering, sebach nedaba= freewill offering. We may 
assume that “ peace offering” 1s a general name, and that the 


* The name seems to have been chosen by way of contrast to the sin 
and trespass offerings, which presupposed a sort of separation between 
God and man, whereas this sacrifice has a more cheerful character, and 
man appears as God’s guest at the sacrificial meals. 


SACRED RITUAL 111 


three other expressions designate particular kinds of peace 
offerings. 

2. Every animal regarded as fit for sacrifice could be used 
as a peace offering; it was not necessary that it should be a 
male, and for freewill offerings of this kind animals might be 
taken that had some imperfection in them. 

3. The ritual began like that of the holocaust. The blood 
was sprinkled. all round the altar, but from this point the pro- 
cedure differed. Only four, or, in the case of sheep, five parts 
of the victim were placed on the altar, viz.: (1) the fatty tissues 
enclosing the entrails; (2) the fat on the entrails; (3) the two 
kidneys; (4) the liver, and (in sheep) (5) the fat tail (alja). 

The breast (chase) and the right leg (schoq) * were separated 
from the rest of the flesh, and laid by the priest on the hands 
of the man offering the sacrifice. Then the priest laid his own 
hands under those of the offerer, and made a movement forwards 
(towards the altar and the sanctuary) and back again, — this 
ceremony was called “waving” (tenupha),—then another 
movement from below upwards, and then down again, which 
was called “heaving” (terwma). After this the pieces of fat 
were burnt on the altar, and a sacrificial meal followed. The 
breast (wave offering) and the leg (heave offering) ? were eaten 
by the priests, and their wives and children could share the 
food. The people who offered the sacrifice consumed the rest 
on the holy spot, being in a condition of legal purity. If the 
sacrifice was a thank offering, the meal was bound to take place 
on the day that the victim was killed; if it was a free-will or a 
votive offering, the flesh remaining over from that day might 
be consumed on the following morning, but whatever was still 


1 The right hind leg must be meant, for schog means runner, and is 
used of the thigh of a man’s leg, below the loins. The Septuagint read- 
ing is Bpaxiwy and the Vulgate armus = shoulder. Cf. Knobel on Leviti- 
cus vii. 32, 33; Scholz, Altertiimer, II, 175. 

* Chase hattenupha, schog hatteruma. It seems that sometimes only 
the breast was “‘ waved ” and only the leg “‘ heaved,” but sometimes the 
two movements were connected. Exodus xxix. 26, 27: “take the breast 

. . and elevating it thou shalt sanctify it to the Lord... and thou 
shalt sanctify both the consecrated breast and the shoulder.” The cere- 
mony signified that the portions of the victim should be devoted to the 
sanctuary and lifted up to the altar. 


112 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


left had to be burnt.t| An unbloody offering always accom- 
panied sacrifices of this kind also. 


23. SIN OFFERINGS 
(Leviticus iv. 1, ete., vi. 24-30) 


1. The third kind of sacrifice bears the same name as the 
sin = chattath, and the very name shows that in this case the 
victim was offered as an atonement for definite transgressions. 
These were not, however, intentional, as every intentional vio- 
lation of the law was punishable with death; but they were 
rather unintentional faults and certain conditions of unclean- 
ness, which had some resemblance to or connection with sin, 
such as leprosy, issue of blood. Moreover, at certain times it 
was required that sin offerings should be made on behalf of 
the whole people, for it was taken for granted that many un- 
noticed violations of the law must have occurred. 

Before our Lord’s coming there was no certain outward means of get- 
ting rid of sin, for the so-called “‘ sacraments of the Old Covenant ” (cir- 
cumcision, consecration of priests and Levites, the Paschal lamb and the 
various sacrifices and purifications) could not of themselves remove sin; 
they secured only righteousness in the eyes of the law. Hence Saint 
Paul calls them (Gal. iv. 9) “ weak and needy elements.” The means of 
removing sin were the inward acts of faith in a future Redeemer (Heb. 


xi.) which found expression in prayer and in sacrifice, accompanied with 
an acknowledgment of guilt. Cf. p. 107. 


2. The occasions when a sin offering had to be made, can be 
divided into (a) permanent occasions recurring at certain fixed 
times, and (6) unforeseen occasions. 

a. The fixed times when sin offerings had to be made were 
(a) the Pasch, (b) Pentecost, (c) feast of Tabernacles, (d) 
Day of Atonement, (e) the New Year’s festival, (f) the New 
Moons, i.e. the first day of each month. At each of these 
seasons a sin offering was made for the whole people, the victim 
being always a he-goat. 


7 The Agape of the early Christians had probably no connection with 
these sacrificial feasts of the Old Testament, but was an imitation of the 
Paschal supper, eaten by our Lord and His Apostles before the institu- 
tion of the holy Eucharist. 


SACRED RITUAL 113 


b. The unforeseen occasions were much more numerous. As 
chief of them may be mentioned: (a) the purification of a 
woman after childbirth; (0) the purification of a leper or of 
one suffering from any discharge; (c) the purification of a 
woman with an issue of blood. In these cases doves were gen- 
erally offered. (d) If the high priest accidentally violated any 
precept in the law, he sacrificed a young bullock, free from all 
blemish. (e) If the whole community had transgressed in the 
same way, the same offering had to be made. (f) In such case 
the head of a tribe or family offered a he-goat. (g) Any indi- 
vidual Israelite atoned for such a transgression by offering a 
she-goat. 

3. With regard to the ritual observed, sin offerings were 
divided into two classes, interior and exterior. The former were 
sacrifices in which the blood of the victim was carried inside the 
Temple or Tabernacle. The latter were sacrifices in which the 
blood only was taken to the altar of holocausts. The flesh 
of the victims in the former class of sin offerings was burnt 
outside the city or the camp. ‘The flesh of the victims in the 
second class was eaten by the priests, with the exception of the 
pieces of fat, which were burnt on the altar. Interior sin offer- 
ings were the more important; such was, for instance, the 
sacrifice on the great Day of Atonement.* 


24. TRESPASS OFFERINGS 


(Leviticus v. 15, ete.; Vulgate, also vi. 2, etc.) 


1. The Hebrew name for this kind of offering is ’ascham = 
guilt. The ritual for it was the same as that for the sin 
offering, and therefore many archeologists identify the two, and 
regard ’ascham only as a particular kind of chattath. ‘Those who 


1 Of. on this subject Heb. xiii. 10-15, which is explained as follows: 
It was certainly no mere accident that Christ was crucified outside the 
city. He died as a sin offering. The Jews were forbidden to eat the 
flesh of the more important sin offerings; it had to be burnt outside 
the city. Therefore the author of this epistle calls upon the Jewish 
Christians thus: “ Let us go forth to him without the camp, bearing his 
reproach ” — let us separate ourselves from the Jews, let us share in His 
sacrifice, even if those who believe not despise. 


114 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


identify them reckon only three bloody sacrifices. There are, 
however, differences in the cause for these sacrifices and in their 
object. (a) The trespass offering was always made for an 
individual, whilst the sin offering might also be on behalf 
of the whole people. (0b) The chief difference les in the fact 
that a trespass offering was always connected with some in- 
jury committed to the rights of God Himself or of a man’s 
neighbors; whereas, no such thing was presupposed in the case 
of a sin offering. The damage done had to be made good, a 
fifth of the value being paid in addition, and a sacrifice 
offered. ; 

2. In the Law of Moses several cases are mentioned in which 
a trespass offering was required. The chief are: (a) If a man 
keep back or diminish the duties payable to the priests. (b) If 
he deny the receipt of a deposit, or that he has found or 
damaged anything. (c) If he unintentionally violate the law 
to the detriment of his neighbor, and later recognize his fault. 
In every case, as with the sin offerings, it is assumed that the 
fault proceeded, not from malice, but from inattention and 
carelessness. 

3. The victim was a ram, sometimes a lamb. 

4. Ritual. The blood was sprinkled on the altar of holo- 
causts; the fat was burnt on the altar and the rest of the flesh 
was eaten by the priests within the sacred precincts. ‘Thus the 
ritual is the same as that of the exterior sin offerings. 


The rationalistic theory of sacrifice denies the Mosaic origin of the 
various kinds of offering and seeks to explain the bloody sacrifice by the 
act of killing. ‘ At all times people have shrunk from attacking nature. 
One of the most grievous attacks possible is killing, i.e. suppressing, de- 
stroying the life of an animal created by God. As, however, men desired 
to slaughter animals, and were obliged to do so, they tried to calm their 
fears at least by restoring to God, i.e. by sacrificing, the blood, in which 
is the life. As often as they prepared flesh food they gave a befitting 
share to the Deity. If the feast was particularly solemn, or if many 
were invited to share it, the Deity received a whole animal. In this way 
arose first the kind of sacrifice called later peace offerings, but originally 
referred to as victims or offerings (1 Kings iii. 14) and subsequently the 
holocausts (Deut. xii. 11) developed. In very early times sacrifices of 
atonement (sin and trespass offerings) were unknown. They arose first 
out of the consciousness of guilt felt by the people in exile — hence they 
are mentioned for the first time in the Priests’ Code.” 


SACRED RITUAL 115 


All these are arbitrary assumptions. The act of slaughtering was 
not accompanied by sacrifice (Gen. xviii. 7).* 

The so-called “ Priests’ Code” dates, as we have shown on p. 46, etc., 
not from the time of the Captivity, but from a far earlier period. And 
quite apart from these considerations, the custom of offering human 
sacrifices, once prevailing over the whole world, is opposed to this theory. 
Human sacrifices point to a primeval consciousness of guilt felt by the 
whole human race, and they certainly belonged to the earliest period, 
since they were of universal occurrence. On the subject of consuming 
blood, see page 131, Laws concerning Food. 


25. SPECIAL KINDS oF BLOODY SACRIFICES 


The Sacrifice of the Red Cow 


(Num. xix.) 


. 

This peculiar sacrifice was not made either in the Tabernacle 
or in the Temple, but outside the camp or town. A young 
full-grown cow, red in color and without blemish, that had 
never carried the yoke, was chosen and given over to the priest. 
He had to lead her outside the camp or town, in later times 
always to the Mount of Olives, and kill her there. Then dipping 
his finger in her blood, he sprinkled it seven times towards 
the Tabernacle or Temple. Then the cow’s body was laid on 
a pile of wood, which was set on fire, cedar wood hyssop and 
scarlet wood being laid upon it. The cow had to be reduced 
to ashes, which were sifted and then used in the preparation of 
water for purification. If any one had incurred one of the legal 
defilements, he had to be separated from the people, and could 
only be purified again after the lapse of a definite time; the puri- 
fication consisted of being sprinkled with water containing some 
of the red cow’s ashes. Not only persons, but vessels, houses and 
tents, were sprinkled with this water and restored to their 
normal condition,” if they had become legally unclean * (cf. Heb. 
UX) cs.) 

* Abraham caused beasts to be slain as soon as the three strangers 
arrived. 

2 A bunch of hyssop, fastened by a red thread to a stick of cedar wood, 
was used for sprinkling persons or things. 

’ The red cow seems to represent the people of Israel, that through 
their repeated unfaithfulness (red symbolizes guilt) had deserved death, 


i.e. destruction, but through faith in the future Messias and by doing 
penance might hope for salvation. 


116 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Sacrifice for Lepers 


(Leviticus xiv.) 


When a leper recovered from his disease, he had to show 
himself to a priest, and if the latter judged him to be cured, 
he had to bring two living birds, which must be “ clean,” not 
birds of prey that eat carrion, and also a bunch of hyssop. 
One of the birds was killed over living water (i.e. water from 
a spring or a river) in such a way that its blood dripped into the 
water, into which the bunch of hyssop was dipped, and the healed 
leper sprinkled seven times. The other bird was dipped in 
the same water and then allowed to fly away; this symbolized 
the recovery of health. Then the man who was healed washed 
his clothes, cut his hair and bathed his body, and thenceforth 
he was clean, and might come into the camp or city, though 
he must not occupy his tent or house for another week. On 
the eighth day he had to bring a threefold sacrifice,t and was 
then on a level with all the other Israelites. 


The significance of the ceremony concerning the two birds was prob- 
ably this: The leper was to acknowledge that as a sinner he had de- 
served death, which is “ the wages of sin,” but he was preserved through 
the offering of living creatures, which the justice of God accepted as 
types of a better sacrifice. 


The Nazirite Sacrifice 
(Num. vi. 1-21) 


_ Every Israelite could, by a vow, consecrate himself exclusively 
to God, either for a definite period or for life. Persons bound 
by such a vow were called Nazirites, i.e. set apart (12 from 13, 


1 Namely, a trespass offering (a ram and one log of oil), a sin offering 
(a female lamb) and a burnt offering (a ram and three issaron of fine 
flour). In case of poverty two pigeons might be used for the burnt and 
sin offerings, and only one issaron of flour was required, but no reduc- 
tion could be made in the trespass offering, which was required because 
the leper, during his illness, had been unable to render any service in the 
sanctuary or to his neighbors; a sin offering was necessary, because he 
had been prevented from keeping the law in every point, and a burnt 
offering was his homage paid to God. 


SACRED RITUAL ta he 


to set apart). The obligations incurred by those thus conse- 
crated were threefold: (1) they had to avoid all intoxicating 
drinks; (2) the hair of their head must be allowed to grow; ? 
(3) they were forbidden to take any part in mourning for the 
dead.? If the vow was temporary, it held good for thirty days, 
and when these expired the Nazirite had to make a threefold 
sacrifice, viz. a sin offering, a burnt offering and a thank 
offering.* After making the thank offering, the Nazirite cut 
off the hair of his head and cast it into the fire on the altar. 
If a Nazirite broke his vow, by joining in lamentation for the 
dead, or in any other way, he had to offer two pigeons in 
reparation, and begin his time of consecration over again. 


Nazirites were held in great respect. Saint John the Baptist and 
Saint James the Less, the Apostle, were Nazirites; even Saint Paul did 
not hesitate to become one for a time. 


(b) Unbloody Sacrifices 
26. Mrat OFFERINGS 


1. A meat offering was not always merely an addition to a 
holocaust or a peace offering, but it was often an independent 
sacrifice. Just as the sin and trespass offerings stood alone, and 
required no unbloody addition, so also there were independent 
meat offerings. Such were especially (1) the loaves of propo- 
sition or shewbread; (2) the Paschal sheaf; (3) the loaves at 
Pentecost; (4) first fruits, 1.e. first produce of the soil; (5) 
jealousy offerings. 


1 According to I Corinthians xi. long hair was a mark of a subordinate 
position and of dependence on another, hence it befitted women. 

*. Death suggests sin and is due to sin, but God is the Lord of Life, 
who will bestow eternal life on all that serve Him. Probably also some 
heathen superstitions were often connected with mourning for the dead, 
as a cultus of the dead was very common among the Gentiles, and who- 
ever took part in it showed a tendency to heathenism. 

8 A sin offering, because during the time of consecration some trans- 
gressions of the law might have occurred; a burnt offering, because the 
Nazirite wished to show especial honor to God; a thank offering, to ex- 
press his gratitude for the successful completion of the period for which 
he had taken the vow. 


118 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


In addition to these, which were prescribed by law, there were 
probably (Ley. ii. 1, etc.) also free-will meat offerings. 

2. Ritual. Of the meat offerings that accompanied bloody 
sacrifices, only a small part, about as much as could be grasped 
with three fingers, was taken as ascara, 1. e. reminder, memorvale,* 
and burnt in the fire on the altar. The rest belonged to the 
priest. An independent meat offering, especially such as priests 
had to offer for themselves, was often altogether burnt (Ley. vi. 
23), though sometimes only the portion taken as a reminder 
was put on the altar. As a rule the meat offerings belonged 
solely to the priests, e.g. the first fruits of fields and gardens 
(Lev. 11. 12). 


27%. DRINK OFFERINGS 


Only wine might be used for a drink offering, and according 
to Josephus Flavius it was poured out all round the altar. There 
were no independent drink offerings, but, in conjunction with 
meat offerings, they were connected with the bloody sacrifices, 
viz. holocausts and peace offerings. The quantity of wine used 
corresponded with the size of the victim. For a bullock half a 
hin of wine was taken, for a ram one-third, and for a lamb 
a quarter (Num. xxviii. 14).2 In the Temple there was an 


* This probably means that the fact of burning these things before 
God should remind men of the fulfillment of their duty. 

* The measures for liquids were: (1) the Bath; (2) the Hin, a sixth 
part of the Bath; (3) the Log, a twelfth part of the Hin. The measures 
for solids were: (1) the Chomer or Kor; (2) the Letech, half the 
chomer; (3) the Epha, the tenth part of the chomer; (4) the Seah, one- 
third of the epha; (5) the Omer (issaron), one-tenth of the Epha (Ex. 
xvi. 36); (6) the Kab, the sixth of the seah. There are difficulties in 
reducing these measures to those now in use. Josephus Flavius says 
(Ant., VIII, 2, 9) that the epha and bath were both equal to an Attic 
methetes (about 8 gallons). The Rabbinical mode of reckoning, which 
was very inexact, gave the capacity of a Log as = six hens’ eggs. This 
would make the log = nearly half a pint, the hin about five pints, the 
bath four gallons. The kab would be nearly a quart; the omer nearly 
half a gallon; the seah 144 gallons, the epha (like the bath) four gal- 
lons, the letech about 20 gallons and the chomer about 40 gallons. Ben- 
zinger follows Josephus and doubles all these quantities, therefore the 
chomer is equivalent to about 80 gallons, reckoning the log as = one pint, 
ete. But the contents of six hens’ eggs can only be half a_ pint 
(Of. John ii. 6); the six water pots at Cana would at this rate have con- 
tained between 100 and 130 gallons. 


SACRED RITUAL 119 


official who superintended the drink offerings, and the requisite 
wine could be bought of him. 


A libation of water was made on the Feast of Tabernacles (see p. 153). 
Similar libations are mentioned in I Kings vii. 6 and II Kings xxiii. 16. 


28. JEALOUSY OFFERINGS 
(Num. v. 11-31) 


When a husband suspected his wife of adultery but could 
not prove her guilt, he brought her to a priest, with a meat 
offering consisting of one-tenth of an epha of barley meal. The 
priest took some of the sacred water from the laver in the 
Temple Court, in an earthern vessel, mixed with it some dust 
from the floor of the sanctuary, uncovered the woman’s head, 
laid the meat offering in her hands and pronounced a formula 
of words, assuring her that if she drank the water, being inno- 
cent, it would do her no harm; if she were guilty, it would 
destroy her body. The woman replied “ Amen, Amen.” Then 
he wrote the curse on a roll of parchment, washed the writing 
off in the same water, took the meat offering, laid an 
ascara on the altar, and finally gave the woman the water to 
drink. 


This ordeal is only apparently hard upon the woman; it must be re- 
membered that as soon as the offering was made she was free from all 
suspicion. It served to protect her from reproaches and ill treatment, 
and hence women must often have desired and demanded it. 


299, Tue TEMPLE TAXES 


Every Israelite over twenty years of age had to pay half a 
shekel yearly to the Temple. This tax was payable not only 
in Palestine, but by all the Jews of the Dispersion. Whoever 
could not pay it in person, sent the money to Jerusalem through 
collectors or pilgrims. 

Similar offerings for the sanctuary were demanded even by 
Moses. In Exodus xxx. 12-16 we read: “ Every one of them 
shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there shall 
be no scourge among them. .. . Half a sicle shall be offered to 


120 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the Lord. He that is counted in the number from twenty 
years and upwards, shall give the price. The rich man shall 
not add to half a sicle, and the poor man shall diminish nothing. 
And the money received . . . thou shalt deliver unto the uses 
of the tabernacle of the testimony.” ‘This seems to have been 
a single, not a yearly payment. Later the tax was collected 
from time to time when there was unusual need of money 
(II Chron. xxiv. 6), but after the Captivity Nehemias required 
a yearly tribute; he diminished it, however, to one-third shekel, 
perhaps on account of the poverty of the Jews at that time 
(Nehem. x. 32). “ We make ordinances for ourselves to give 
the third part of a sicle every year for the work of the house of 
our God.” At the time of Christ the amount had been raised 
again to half a shekel=-a double drachma (Matt. xvii. 23). 
In the Holy Land the tax was payable in the month Adar 
(February); as it had to be paid in half shekel pieces, and 
other coins were in use all over the country, places for 
the exchange of money existed, both in the Temple and in the 
provinces. Priests and Levites also paid this tax. 


The shekel (py = = weight; in the Septuagint the word is rendered 
didpaxmov, in Aa Vulgate siclus argenti) is mentioned as early as the 
time of Abraham, who acquired a piece of land at Hebron for four 
hundred silver shekels (Gen. xxiii. 15). Subsequently we hear of half 
and quarter shekels (Ex. xxx. and xxxviil. and I Kings ix.). Very large 
sums were reckoned in talents (rédavrov = balance, weight; Heb., 433, 
circle, i.e. a fa silver disc = 3000 shekels). The mina (yuva = weight, 
Heb. mn = gr talent) was a silver coin worth 50 shekels. After the 
Captivity values were often given in darics, Persian coins; and still later 
Greek coins also became current, especially the stater and the drachma. 
The Machabees again had shekels coined, but were not able to abolish the 
use of western coins. Some of their shekels exist at the present time. 
Under the Romans their coinage too became current, viz. the as (prop- 
erly ete), denarius (piece of 10 as), quadrans (%4 as), and the lepton 
(Aerror se. voutoua, little coin, 1% quadrans). 

The value of these coins in our money may be determined approxi- 
mately as follows: The Machabean shekels that have been discovered 
weigh on an average 14.55 grammes; so that their value is about 60 
cents; a mina is worth about $30 and a silver talent about $1800. The 
daric was of the same value as the shekel. The drachma weighed 4.36 
grammes, and was worth about 18 cents, the double drachma about 
35 cents, and the stater, four drachmas, about 75 cents, although the Jews 
regarded the stater as equivalent to their shekel, and so demanded a 
double drachma as the Temple tax. In the time of our Lord the Roman 


SACRED RITUAL 121 


as was a copper coin worth about one cent in our money. The de- 
marius was a silver coin, which originally contained 10 as, but in the 
time of Christ 16, so that its value was about 16 cents. The Romans 
reckoned the denarius as equivalent to the drachma. 


II. PURIFICATIONS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES 


30. LErGAL DEFILEMENT 


In the Law of Moses certain natural conditions are said to 
constitute uncleanness in persons who have made a covenant 
with God, and directions are given for removing this defile- 
ment. ‘The reason is that these conditions are due to sin and 
bear a resemblance to it. They fall into three classes: the de- 
filement of death, the uncleanness of leprosy, and sexual un- 
cleanness. 


31. THE DEFILEMENT OF DEATH 
CNum 1X.) Ls e0c;) 


A human corpse defiled (1) the tent or house in which it 
lay, all open vessels in that house, and the people living in it 
or entering it, for the space of seven days. In the same way 
(2) contact with a corpse or bones or a grave made a man 
unclean for seven days. (3) The defilement of death was 
contagious, for every person and thing touched by the unclean 
person became unclean until the evening. (4) The dead body 
of an animal caused any one who touched it to be unclean until 
the evening. 

For the removal of this uncleanness, persons and things had 
to be sprinkied, on the third and seventh days after contracting 
it, with water of purification specially prepared (from the red 
cow). Human beings were required, moreover, to take a bath 
on the seventh day, and to wash their clothes. For those who 
were unclean until the evening, including the man who per- 
formed the ceremony of sprinkling with the water of puri- 
fication, and any one else who accidentally touched this water, 
it sufficed to take a bath and to wash their garments. 


According to Benzinger (481) the idea that death caused defilement 
was only “ the energetic protest of the Yahweh religion against any cul- 


122 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


tus of the dead, and a most emphatic condemnation of the same.” The 
theory that death was a consequence of original sin was based upon the 
epistle to the Romans, and then referred by Christian theologians to the 
Old Testament. Benzinger, however, would do well to turn his attention 
to the author of the Book of Wisdom (i. 13; ii. 23, 24) and also to Saint 
Paul (Romans v. 12; vi. 23), who lived under the old Covenant and 
drew upon Jewish opinions and tradition. The underlying reason is to 
be found in the recognition of the fact that death, the “ wages of sin,” is 
something foreign to human nature, imposed upon it, that must be again 
removed from it. By this means the desire for release could be kept 
alive, and it was intended that this should be so. The same holds good 
of sickness, the most appalling form of which is leprosy, and also of 
various abnormal sexual conditions. 


_—_ 


32. UNCLEANNESS DUE TO LEPROSY 


Leprosy rendered every person attacked by the disease un- 
clean. If any one was suffering from a suspicious eruption, 
he had to show himself to a priest, and if the latter recognized 
his disease as true leprosy (according to the rules laid down in 
Leviticus xiii.) and declared it to be such, he was bound forth- 
with to exclude the unhappy man from all intercourse with 
healthy people. The leper had to rend his garments (i.e. tear 
them down a short distance over his breast), uncover his head, 
muffle up his chin, and cry to every one meeting him: “ Unclean, 
unclean!” His dwelling could only be outside the camp or out- 
side any inhabited place. It very rarely happened that any one re- 
covered from leprosy; but when this occurred, he had again to 
allow himself to be examined by a priest, and if the latter judged 
him to be really free from the disease, the prescribed ceremonies 
had to be performed for his purification, and offerings made as 
described above (p. 116). 

Besides human leprosy, the Mosaic law recognized a leprosy 
affecting houses and clothes. 

Leprosy in a house (Lev. xiv. 33, etc.) showed itself by spots 
and dents of a greenish or reddish color on the walls. As soon 
as this was noticed, the owner of the house had to give in- 
formation to a priest, who, if he thought the condition of the 
house suspicious, had all the furniture removed, and locked up 
the house for seven days. If he found on the eighth day that the 
mischief had spread, he caused the stones to be removed at the 


SACRED RITUAL 123 


suspicious part, the whitewash scraped off, and all that was 
taken away thrown outside the town or village on to some 
unclean place. New stones were then built into the wall and 
the whole was whitewashed. If the mischief appeared again, 
the leprosy was pronounced malignant, the house was declared 
unclean by the priest, and had to be pulled down. If, however, 
nothing fresh showed itself through the new whitewash, the 
priest declared that the evil was remedied, the house was purified 
by means of ceremonies resembling those by which a man healed 
of leprosy was purified, and it could then be inhabited again. 

Leprosy of garments (Lev. xiii. 47, etc.) showed itself in 
greenish or reddish marks appearing on woolen or linen clothes 
and stuffs, and also on leather. As soon as information was 
given to the priest, he locked up the suspected article for seven 
days. If, on re-examining it on the seventh day, he found that 
the mark had increased, he pronounced the article unclean, and 
it was burnt. If, however, the leprous mark had grown fainter, 
the part affected was taken out and burnt, and the article could, 
after being washed, be used again, provided no new spots 
appeared. 


Much obscurity rests on the nature of this evil. Leprosy in houses 
may perhaps be identified with a kind of rot, injurious to health, and due 
to the corrosive action of something resembling saltpeter.t| Leprosy in 
clothes may be a kind of mold, caused by damp and want of air, and 
destructive to woven materials and leather. But there is perhaps an as- 
sumption that through want of cleanliness human leprosy can be imparted 
to houses and clothes, and therefore measures must be taken to prevent 
the disease from spreading. 


33. SEXUAL UNCLEANNESS 


1. Vir, qui patitur fluzum seminis, immundus erit. ‘A 
chronic morbid condition is meant. The uncleanness connected 
with it extended to the persons, furniture and utensils touched 
by the sick man. Persons so touched were unclean until the 
evening, and were obliged to wash their clothes and to bathe. 
FKarthen utensils must be broken, wooden ones washed with water. 


1 Father Jullien, 8.J., refers to Leviticus xiv. in his account of this rot 
appearing in the basement of dwelling houses in Egypt. 


124 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


For the ceremony of purification after recovery two pigeons were 
required as burnt and sin offerings (Lev. xv. 2-15). 

2. Coitus virt cum uxore ambo immundos reddit usque ad 
vesperam, ac se et vestimenta aqua lavabunt (Lev. xv. 16-18). 

3. Homo, qui nocturno pollutus sit somnio, egredietur extra 
castra et non revertetur, priusquam ad vesperam lavetur aqua 
(Deut. xxiii. 10, 11). 

4. A flow of blood in women caused uncleanness, as long 
as it lasted. When it was over, the woman had to present two 
pigeons as burnt and sin offerings (Lev. xv. 25, etc.). 

5. Menstruation made a woman unclean for seven days. Per- 
sons and things that she touched were unclean until the evening, 
and required purification in the way described. On the seventh 
day she had to bathe (Lev. xv. 19, etc.). 

€. After childbirth (Lev. xu. 6-8) a woman was unclean, — 
for seven days after the birth of a son, and for fourteen days 
after that of a daughter. Moreover, in the former case she 
had to remain at home for thirty-three days, and in the latter 
for sixty-six; 1.e. any considerable walks, and especially visits 
to the sanctuary, were forbidden. When the time of purification 
expired she had to present a lamb as a burnt offering and a 
pigeon as a sin offering. If she were poor, two pigeons sufficed. 


34. MARRIAGE LAWS 


1. God Himself instituted marriage as a monogamy, but the 
original ordinance, according to which marriage is the indis- 
soluble union of one man with one woman, became obscured by 
sin. Lamech, one of Cain’s immediate descendants, had two 
wives, and among the patriarchs we find the custom of having 
one or more additional wives besides the real wife. This was 
especially the case when there were no hopes that the real wife 
would carry on the race. This custom was not altered by the 
Mosaic Law, although various regulations show plainly that 
monogamy was to be preferred. ‘Thus, for instance, in Deu- 
teronomy xvii. 17, one who would probably become king of 
Israel is recommended not to have many wives. Not much 
attention was paid to this precept, for Solomon had 700 wives 


SACRED RITUAL 125 


and 300 concubines (III Kings xi. 3). The Israelites as a 
tule had, however, mostly only one wife, for whom a sum of 
money was paid to her parents or relatives when the marriage 
took place; the practice of giving a dowry did not prevail. The 
position of women was not degraded, as with the Gentiles. 
Proverbs xxxi. shows how much liberty and independence a wise 
wife could enjoy in her household. ‘There is no doubt that 
monogamous marriages were the rule, and after the Captivity 
we scarcely hear of bigamy or polygamy. Thus the way was 
prepared: for the New Testament ordinance, which restored 
marriage to its original condition, and at the same time raised 
it to the rank of a Sacrament and bestowed upon it a special grace. 
For only by God’s grace is it possible for fallen man to observe 
the ordinance as God designed it. 

2. The following obstacles to marriage are enumerated in the 
Law of Moses: 

(1) Marriage with Gentile women, and especially with Cha- 
naanites, was forbidden (Gen. xxiv. 3; Ex. xxxiv. 16; Deut. vil. 
3). (2) Marriage was forbidden between persons closely con- 
nected by consanguinity or affinity (Lev. xviii. 6, etc., xx. 11, etc.), 
i.e. a man might not marry (a) his mother or stepmother, (0) 
his sister or half-sister, (c) his aunt, (d) his granddaughter," 
(ec) his uncle’s wife, (f) his mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, 
(g) his sister-in-law, (h) his step-daughter and step-grand- 
daughter, (7) his wife’s sister, as long as the wife is alive. The 
prohibitions are only stated as applying to men, not to women, 
for the latter had no freedom of choice, but submitted to the will 
of parents or bridegroom. 

3. If a married man died, leaving no son, his surviving 
brother was bound to marry the widow. This custom of Levirate 
marriage exists also among some heathen nations. According 
to the Mosaic Law, the eldest son born of such a marriage took 
the dead man’s name. and was regarded as his legitimate son 


1 There is no mention of his daughter, probably because it was taken 
for granted that such a sin could not occur. The same is most likely 
true of a niece. 

2 Jacob’s marriages were exceptional, for his wives were sisters, but he 
lived before the law was given. 


126 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and heir. The object of this law was to secure as far as possible 
security of tenure and permanence to each family. If the brother- 
in-law were unwilling to comply with his obligation, the widow 
could summon him before a court of justice, and if he still 
refused, he had to put up with public reviling from the widow, 
but was not forced to marry her (Gen. xxxvill. 8; Deut. xxv. 5; 
Matt. xxii. 24). 

4. As long as marriage was not a Sacrament, divorce could 
not altogether be forbidden. According to Deuteronomy xxiv. 
1-4, it was permitted: 

“Tf a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favor in his 
eyes for some uncleanness, he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall give 
it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed 
and marrieth another husband, and he also hateth her and hath given her 


a bill of divorce and hath sent her out of his house, or is dead, the former 
husband cannot take her again to wife.” 


The expression translated “some uncleanness” is in Hebrew 
‘ervath dabar, i.e. literally shame or disgrace of a thing, some- 
thing arousing horror or disgust. The doctors of the law did 
not agree concerning the interpretation of this passage, and in 
our Lord’s time it was hotly discussed by the followers of 
Hillel and Shammai. The former thought that it meant any 
unpleasant fact, giving rise to dislike, such as want of skill in 
cooking on the woman’s part. The latter believed that it re- 
ferred only to indecencies and particularly to adultery. The 
first interpretation was the one commonly accepted, and our 
Saviour protested against this frivolous opinion when He de- 
clared adultery to be the sole ground for the dissolution of 
a marriage, and forbade re-marriage under His new law (Matt. 
xix. 3-12). Divorce must have been rare; there are very few 
allusions to it in the Old Testament, and the prophet Malachias 
(11. 13, ete.) speaks very emphatically against it. The woman 
had not the same rights as the man, and therefore was not 
entitled to claim a divorce for herself. We always read that 
it was the wife who was divorced. 

5. Adultery, i. e. intercourse with another man’s wife or be- 
trothed, was punished with death; both parties were stoned 
(Lev. xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22-24; John vill. 5). This penalty 


SACRED RITUAL 127 


was of course inflicted only if the case were brought before a 
judge. A husband might, in secret instances, adopt the line of 
action proposed by Joseph, “the just man,” and put away his 
wife privately. 


35. CIRCUMCISION 


1. Institution. Circumcision is mentioned as early as Genesis 
xvil., where we read that God Himself imposed it upon Abraham 
and his descendants; it was to be a mark of participation in 
the covenant that God made with him. The obligation of cir- 
cumcision was binding not only upon all male descendants of 
Abraham, but also upon their slaves. Every male child had 
to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, and every uncir- 
cumcised person was ordered to be exterminated from among 
God’s people, because he was regarded as unclean. In the Mosaic 
Law this rule is referred to as if it had long existed, not as 
if it were then laid down for the first time: “On the eighth day 
the infant shall be circumcised ” (Lev. x11. 3). 

Circumcision was a painful operation, consisting in the re- 
moval of the foreskin by means of a sharp knife. Originally 
stone knives were used for the purpose (Ex. iv. 25; John v. 2), 
but later on iron ones. As a rule this ceremony of purification 
was performed by the head of the household. 

Precise instructions as to the manner of fulfilling the divine 
command are not given in the law. Some details have, how- 
ever, come down to us by tradition, which was always an adjunct 
to the written law. The most important are as follows: 


1. Any one can circumcise, but it is only to be done by women if no 
man is present. 

2. A Gentile is not permitted to circumcise a descendant of Abraham, 
and such circumcision by a Gentile is invalid. 

3. If an already circumcised Gentile embraces Judaism, a wound is 
made at the place of circumcision in order to bring out the blood of the 
Covenant. 

4. A sick child or a Proselyte is not circumcised until he has recovered 
his health. If a child dies before he is eight days old, circumcision is still 
performed on the dead body. 

5, Circumcision is permissible even on the Sabbath (John vii. 23). 

The later Israelites generally performed circumcision in the synagogue, 
and united the naming of the child with it. The latter custom is men- 


128 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


tioned in the New Testament, but neither it nor the various blessings and 
rejoicings of modern Jews are to be traced back to Moses or Abraham, or 
even to God Himself; they have developed in course of time. The same 
remark applies to the choice of a godfather, on whose knee the ceremony 
is performed. This practice seems to have arisen in the Middle Ages and 
in imitation of the custom at Christian baptism. 


2. Origin of Circumcision. We find circumcision not only 
among the Israelites, but also among other nations, especially 
many Arab tribes, and the Pheenicians, Egyptians and Ethio- 
pians. It is quite possible that the Gentiles adopted circumcision 
from Abraham and his descendants, but it is maintained, on the 
other hand, that the Egyptians practiced it before the time of 
Abraham, who adopted it in Egypt and thence brought it with 
him to Asia. This latter theory is supported by Herodotus 
(11. 104),? who states that the “ Syrians in Palestine” had learnt 
from the Egyptians to practice circumcision. But we can scarcely 
attach much importance to this statement, as Herodotus is only 
reporting what he was told by the Egyptian priests, and their 
national vanity often led them to represent themselves as the 
teachers of other nations.* If it is suggested that the Israelites 
were too isolated and politically too insignificant for the Egyp- 
tians to have adopted circumcision from them, it is enough to 
refer to the honors that fell to Abraham and still more to Joseph 
in Egypt, to make it appear credible.* But even if we assume or 


* To the present day the Mahometans insist most strictly upon it. It 
is performed between the seventh and the thirteenth years. Of. Genesis 
xvii. 15: “Ismael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.” 

2 wodvo. wavrwy avOpwrwv Koryo. xal Alydarioe kal AlOiomes wepitapvovrar am’ 
apxis Ta aidota. Polvixes dé Kal LDvpor of év rH UararorwH Kai avrol ouodoyéover 
map Alyurrlwy wenadnkévac. 

* Reitzenstein expresses the opinion that in Egypt only the priests and 
other persons connected with the temples were circumcised, and that the 
Israelites derived the practice from them. If this were true, however, cir- 
cumcision would certainly have been limited to the priests among the 
Israelites also. It seems certain that in Egypt and Arabia from remote 
times the operation was performed at about the age of thirteen. 

* It is very improbable that other nations practiced circumcision be- 
fore the Jews. In the Old Testament circumcision is spoken of as the 
mark distinguishing the servants of the true God from the worshipers of 
false gods. In Ezechiel xxxii. 21, ete., all non-Israelites, including a great 
number of tribes, are spoken of as uncircumcised. Scholz believes that the 
Egyptians adopted circumcision either directly from Joseph, who was ad- 


SACRED RITUAL 129 


grant that circumcision was commonly practiced by the Egyptians 
before the time of Abraham, this does not affect the religious 
importance of the ceremony. If Abraham learnt it in Egypt, 
he was being prepared to be commanded by God, at a later 
period, to introduce it into his own race. 

Why did God order the people of the Covenant to be circum- 
cised? What is the religious signification of the rite? Was 
it meant merely as a sanitary precaution? Philo laid stress on 
this aspect of it, and Christian archeologists have tried to 
strengthen this theory by pointing out how much it furthers 
cleanliness, which is beneficial to the health and diminishes 
sexual excesses. But other nations living under the same climatic 
conditions, and not practicing circumcision, were neither less 
healthy nor less moral than the circumcised for that reason. 
Circumcision seems to have been ordered because the sexual 
life had been corrupted by sin. If the human race was to be 
raised, a purification of this life was absolutely necessary. Cir- 
cumcision was only a symbol and type of such a purification. 
The true remedy for the evils that had crept in was supplied 
by Christ, who restored monogamy, raised marriage to the rank 
of a Sacrament, and gave His followers the counsel of perfect 
chastity, at the same time making it possible to practice it by 
means of the grace that He bestowed. Since then circum- 
cision has ceased to be obligatory. It was a type of baptism, 
but could not remove original sin. 


mitted to their priestly caste, or indirectly, through Arab tribes. Egypt 
was not always completely cut off from intercourse with foreign coun- 
tries, as is shown by the reign of Hyksos. If traces of circumcision can 
really be found on very ancient mummies, the first question to decide is 
to what period they belong. Among the carvings at Karnak the actual 
operation of circumcision is depicted, but it should be noticed that it is 
being performed on two boys of about twelve years of age, which is the 
age at which circumcision takes place among the Arabs, whereas the 
Israelites circumcise children of eight days old; hence neither the Egyp- 
tians nor the Arabs seem to have been their instructors in this respect. 
It is possible that the Egyptians adopted circumcision from the descend- 
ants of Ismael. Cf. Genesis xxi. 21: ‘“ This mother” (Agar, the Egyp- 
tian) ‘took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.” 


130 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


36. RECEPTION OF PROSELYTES 


In every age, but especially after the Captivity, strangers, 
members of other races, have lived among the Israelites. They 
were called gerim == those added. Although every Gentile was 
regarded by the Israelites as unclean, these strangers were 
tolerated by the Mosaic law, but they had to pledge themselves 
to conform to some extent to the worship of the true God. Ac- 
cording to tradition, they were especially bound to observe the 
seven Noachic commandments; -i.e. they must refrain from 
(1) blaspheming the true God; (2) worshiping the heavenly 
bodies and false gods; (3) murder; (4) incest, 1.e. marriage 
with very near relatives; (5) robbery; (6) rebellion against 
authority; (7) eating blood and flesh containing blood.’ 

If these strangers desired to attain to the full rights of Israel, 
they had to seek admission to the Mosaic Covenant by submitting 
to circumcision, and thereby pledge themselves to observe the 
whole Jewish law. 

At the time of Christ (according to the Mishna and Gemara), 
the Proselytes of the Gate were distinguished from the Prose- 
lytes of Righteousness or of the Covenant. The former lived 
indeed within the gates of Jewish towns, but were only tolerated, 
the latter had acquired civil rights, observed all the precepts of 
the law, and were completely on a level with the Israelites. The 
Babylonian Gemara tells us that sacrifice and baptism were re- 
quired in their case, as well as circumcision.? This baptism 
is nowhere mentioned in Holy Scripture and seems to be a 
further development of the bath that preceded the performance 
of religious ceremonies. The whole ceremony expresses a desire 
for purification from sin and to be born again to a new life. 


* These rules of late Jewish origin plainly received their name Noachic 
from the instructions given by God to Noe (Gen. ix. 3, ete.), relating to 
the killing of beasts and the eating of blood. That these particular rules 
have come down from Noe cannot be proved. 

? The baptism was complete immersion in running water in token of 
their new birth. 


SACRED RITUAL 131 


37. LAWS CONCERNING Foop 


The nourishment of which a man partakes is not a matter of 
perfect indifference, because it influences also his spiritual life. 
Hence God in His revelation repeatedly laid down rules governing 
food. 

According to God’s original ordinance, the human race was to 
live on vegetables. In Genesis i. 29,1 grass is assigned to the 
beasts, and to man the produce of the fields and the fruits of the 
trees as food. Most commentators are of opinion that in the 
first few centuries there were no beasts of prey, and human 
beings ate no animal food.2 Only after the Deluge were men 
permitted to eat flesh as well as vegetables, and consequently 
to kill animals, although it was with the limitation that no 
blood, or flesh stained with blood, should be eaten (Gen. ix. 
eeeLC,) 2 

The Mosaic law contains many other limitations, and a num- 
ber of rules regarding the kinds of flesh food that were per- 
mitted, and those that were not. 

The flesh of all unclean beasts was forbidden to be eaten. 
Such included (Lev. xi.; Deut. xiv.) : 

1. Of four-footed beasts, (a) all that walk on paws, such as 
dogs, wolves, foxes and lions; (0) all that do not chew the cud, 
as swine; (c) all that, though they chew the cud, have hoofs not 
quite divided. In this way only those quadrupeds are reckoned 
as clean which both have divided hoofs and chew the cud. ‘These 
are oxen, sheep, goats, and animals resembling them, such as 
gazelles, wild goats, stags and fallow deer. 

2. Of birds about twenty varieties are declared to be unclean, 
mostly birds of prey (Lev. xi. 13, etc. Cf. p. 12). On the 
other hand, pigeons, turtledoves and quails are mentioned as 
clean. 

3. All water animals are unclean unless they have fins and 


1 The Vulgate text is not so clear in this verse as the original, with 
which the Septuagint, Peshitto and other ancient texts are in agreement. 

2 A reminiscence of this peaceful age has been preserved in the writ- 
ings of heathen nations. Cf. Virgil, Georg., I, 130; Ovid, Metamorph., 
XV, 96, ete. 


132 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


scales. So eels, all creatures resembling snakes, and sala- 
manders, are unclean. 

4. All creeping beasts are considered unclean; and 

5. All insects, except such as walk on four feet and have two 
others with which to hop. This exception permitted some kinds 
of grasshoppers to be eaten (Ley. xi. 21). 

But it was not allowed to eat even clean beasts indiscriminately. 
With reference to them it was forbidden — 

1. To eat the blood and portions of flesh containing blood 
(Lev. vii. 26). This prohibition was upheld in the New Testa- 
ment (Acts xv.), but since the Middle Ages it has been gradu- 
ally disregarded by the Church, as the Apostles respected it only 
out of consideration for the Jews, intending thus to facilitate 
their entrance into the Church. 

2. It was forbidden to eat the flesh of any beast that had 
died a natural death or that had been killed by some wild animal. 
In the New Testament (Acts xv.) it is stated in a still more 
general way that the flesh of all strangled beasts (vixrvo) 
(e. g. killed through being caught in a snare) is forbidden. 
The reason in both cases is that the blood would have been either 
only partially or not at all drained out of the body, whereas when 
an animal was slaughtered, it was all removed. 

3. Certain fatty parts of oxen, sheep and goats might not be 
eaten, because they were destined for the altar of sacrifice, 1. e. 
they were considered sacred, even apart from a sacrifice (Ley. 
Ll, LOA yeaa G enamels 

4, A kid might not be boiled in its mother’s milk (Exod. 
xxii. 19). Tradition extended this prohibition to every form 
of mixture of flesh and milk.’ 


* The blood is the life. Man cannot bestow life; therefore originally 
he was not permitted to kill animals, although this was allowed after the 
Deluge. By pouring out the blood man aimed at giving back the crea- 
ture’s life to God, without necessarily always offering a sacrifice. 

* “ All the fat shall be the Lord’s. By a perpetual law for your genera- 
tions, and in all your habitations: neither blood nor fat shall you eat at 
all.” Streaks of fat in the meat, however, might be eaten. 

’ The reason for this precept is obscure. Luther and others have 
thought that it was forbidden to eat any sucklings. Others faney that 
the custom was regarded as cruel. Possibly some heathen superstition 
gave rise to this prohibition. 


SACRED RITUAL 133 


5. It was also forbidden to eat the flesh of any beast sacri- 
ficed to a heathen god (Exod. xxxiv. 15). In order not to 
violate this precept, the later Israelites refrained from all Gojim 
meat. They have, therefore, their own butchers.* 


38. FASTING 


In every age, and probably among all nations, men have striven 
by means of self-restraint to recover that union with God which 
was originally forfeited by intemperance. 

Fasting was especially practiced by the Israelites, when great 
misfortunes had occurred or were feared. In the Book of Judges 
it is mentioned frequently (iii. 9, 15; iv. 3) that “the people 
cried unto the Lord,’ when they were being oppressed by the 
Gentiles. General fasts were often ordered by the High Coun- 
cil in later times. 

In the Law itself a general fast is ordered to be kept by 
the whole people on the 10th of Tischri in each year, i.e. on 
the Day of Atonement. This fast was called “ affliction of soul ” 
(innah nephesch or taanith). In course of time other fast days 
were observed, especially the days on which the destruction of 
Jerusalem and that of the Temple were commemorated. The 
Jews still keep these days as fasts. 

At the time of our Lord pious Jews were in the habit of 
fasting twice in the week (Luke xvii. 12), on Monday and 
Thursday; and in every age individuals have imposed a fast 
upon themselves for particular reasons; e.g. Sara (Tob. 11. 10) ; 
Judith (iv. 8); Esther (iv. 16). This custom also prevails 
still among the Jews. 

The fasts were severe. From sunset to sunset no food or 
drink was taken, nor were baths and anointing allowed. 

Special marks of mourning during a fast were wearing a tight, 
sack-like garment, sprinkling the head with ashes and rending 
the garments. Certain penitential prayers generally accom- 
panied fasting (Joel 1. 12; Judith iv. 8). 

* As such meat occasionally came into the market, it is mentioned by 
Saint Paul, I Corinthians viii-x. He allowed the Christians to use it, 


but adds that if any one is scandalized, they must refrain from doing so. 
2 Cf. Isaias lviii. 5; Joel i. 14, ii. 12. 


134 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


39. PRAYER 


The house of God (Tabernacle and Temple) was regarded as 
the house of prayer (Is. lvi. 7; Matt. xxi. 13; Luke xix. 46). 
Even those far away from the sanctuary were in the habit of 
turning towards it when they prayed (III Kings viii. 44; Dan. 
vi. 10). For many religious ceremonies prayers were prescribed 
by the law, especially when first fruits and tithes were offered 
(Deut. xxvi. 10, 15) ; and prayers were always recited at sacri- 
fices (see p. 10%; cf. Lev. xvi. 21).1. But from the earliest 
times prayers were said privately. Abraham’s servant Eliezer 
prayed earnestly for the success of his mission (Gen. xxiv. 12). 
Anna, the mother of Samuel, prayed silently in the sanctuary, 
begging God to hear her request (I Kings i. 11). At the time of 
the Captivity it was the custom for pious Israelites to pray thrice 
daily, morning, noon and night (Dan. vi. 10), and the same 
practice is mentioned in Psalms liv. 18. The spirit of prayer 
possessed by faithful Israelites reveals itself particularly in the 
Psalms, which have been adopted by the Church of the New 
Covenant, and serve as forms of prayer in daily use. However, 
prayer often became mere lip service, reprobated both by the 
prophets and by our Saviour. As to the attitude of the body 
during prayer, it was usual to pray standing, but sometimes 
the Israelites prayed kneeling or with the face bent down to the 
ground. Our practice of folding, or stretching out, the hands, 
as prescribed in the liturgy of the Church, undoubtedly has 
come down to us from the Old Covenant through the apostles 
(III Kings viii. 54; Dan. vi. 10; Luke xxii. 41; Acts vii. 59; 
ims aeS)) 2 7 


40. Music AND SINGING 


1. Music and singing date from the most remote past. As early 
as Genesis iv. mention is made of the invention of musical instru- 
ments by Jubal, and of his father Lamech as singing a battle 
song. When Jacob returned home from Mesopotamia there is 


1 Our Lord prayed before He died as a victim, 


SACRED RITUAL 135 


further mention of music,’ and again after the escape of the 
Israelites from Egypt.? 

David was the chief musician among the Hebrews; he 
played the harp so beautifully that he was able to banish 
Saul’s melancholy by means of it. He introduced music and 
singing to the sanctuary; 4000 Levites, with Asaph, Heman 
and Idithun at their head, had to supply it (I Chron. xxiii. 5; 
xxv. 1, etc.). Solomon and his successors maintained the music, 
but gradually the interest in it diminished, and Ezechias and 
Josias had to make new arrangements. During the Captivity 
it was no longer a joy to practice sacred music (Ps. exxxvi.),® 
but it was not completely forgotten, for among those who re- 
turned home were 200 singers (Esdras 11. 65). Their piety 
caused David’s music to be revived (Esdras ii. 10; Nehem. 
xll. 27), and thenceforth, as long as the Temple existed, it was 
always kept up with joy. 

2. The chief part of the music seems always to have been 
singing; instruments served only to support it; i.e. to supply 
a prelude and an accompaniment, to make a transition from one 
key to another, and to fill up pauses when the singers rested. 
It is doubtful whether the Hebrews had melodies, strictly so 
called. It might be assumed that the singing resembled that 
somewhat high-pitched kind of recitative that is still heard in 
the synagogues when the Scriptures are read. This monotonous 
declamation could hardly, however, be called singing. The head- 
ings of the Psalms, too, show that different modes of singing 
were in use; for instance, in the Masoretic text the heading of 
the 8th Psalm is “ according to the Gathitic tune,” and that of 


? Laban says to him: “I might have brought thee on the way with joy, 
and with songs, and with timbrels and with harps ” (Gen. xxxi. 27). 

2 Exodus xv. 1: “Moses ...sung this canticle to the Lord.” 
Verses 20, 21: “ Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel 
in her hand, and all the women went after her with timbrels and with 
dances, and she began the song.” 

$ “Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remem- 
bered Sion. On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instru- 
ments. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words 
of songs, and they that carried us away, said: ‘Sing ye to us a hymn of 
the songs of Sion.’ How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange 
land? ” 


136 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the 21st Psalm is that it must be sung to “the hind of the 
dawn,” i. e. to the tune of a well-known song. It seems probable, 
therefore, that the songs possessed melody, but harmony was 
absent, i.e. the union of high and deep voices singing together. 
Musical notation was unknown.’ 

3. The musical instruments mentioned in the Bible may be 
divided into stringed and wind instruments and instruments of 
percussion.” 

(a) Stringed Instruments. Those in use among the Israelites 
were known as the kinnor and the nebel. The kinnor by its 
very name suggests a harp, lyre or guitar. It had six strings. 
The nebel was like the kinnor, but larger, with 10 or 12 strings. 
As nebel means skin, the sounding-board was probably uneven, or 
twisted. ‘The instruments called in Daniel ii. 5, etc., the sabbeka 
(833D, cave) and pesanter (PI03, yradrrHpiov ) were some- 
thing like the harp. They were used in Babylon. 

(b) Wind Instruments: the bagpipe or ugab (28); the 
flute, chalil (79M), made of reed or wood; the trumpet, 
chazozera (77881), and the trombone, schophar (DW); ac- 
cording to Josephus, the trumpet was a straight, thin tube of 
metal, about a cubit in length, with a bell-shaped mouthpiece. 
It is represented on the Arch of Titus. The trombone or horn 
(}2~) was probably originally an ox or a ram’s horn, and was 
afterwards made of metal in the same shape. 

(c) Percussion Instruments: the tambourine (jh, Toumavor), 
a ring of wood or metal, with a skin stretched over it and bells 
attached to it;* cymbals (0°9x9¥)* two concave pieces of metal, 
giving a clear note when struck together; the sistrum (OD yipar) © 
an oval ring of metal, across which were four metal rods loosely 
attached to it; the instrument had a handle, by which it was 


* Dancing often accompanied the music, even at religious ceremonies. 
Even King David danced before the ark (II Kings vi. 14). The two 
sexes never danced together except at the sacrifices to false gods. 

? Bow instruments seem not to have been known. 

* It was held in the left hand and shaken in time, whilst the right hand 
struck the skin, perhaps with a little stick. 

* In I Esdras iii. 10, cymbals are called DANNY. 

° Gk. cetorpov, Lat. sistrum, a sort of gong, used in Egypt chiefly in 
honor of Isis. 


SACRED RITUAL 137 


shaken and swung; the triangle (o'w9w), made of steel, and 
attached to a string, by which it was held; it was struck with 
a little metal rod. 


41. BL&EssInes 


Numbers vi. 22, etc., contains the prescribed form of words 
used in blessing the people. It runs: 

“The Lord bless thee and keep thee. 

The Lord show His Face to thee and have mercy on thee. 

The Lord turn His Countenance to thee and give thee peace.” 
Every day, after the morning sacrifice and the offering of incense, 
the officiating priest had to raise his hands and pronounce this 
blessing over the people assembled and praying in the court, or 
over their representatives. ‘The people answered: “‘ Amen.” 

The evening sacrifice was not followed by a blessing.* 


42. Vows AND CURSES 


1. In Holy Scripture a vow (cherem) is the dedication of 
persons or things to be exclusively God’s property. The conse- 
quence of it was that the persons must be killed and the things 
given to the sanctuary or burnt (Lev. xxvii. 1, etc.; Num. xxxi. 
Deut. 11..34,0x1i9. 15). 

In the Mosaic law this doom was pronounced upon Israelites 
who sacrificed to false gods, and even upon whole cities that fell 
into idolatry (Ex. xxii. 19). Human beings and animals in such 
towns were to be slain by the sword, houses and goods to be 
consumed with fire. On account of particularly wicked practices 
this curse was pronounced against the Chanaanites and subse- 
quently also against the Amalekites, who were probably of kindred 
race with the Chanaanites,? but it was carried out in all its se- 
verity only in the case of one city — Jericho. Other town were 
treated more leniently, and were allowed to remain standing. If 


1 So Haneberg, who relies on Maimonides. 

* Josephus Flavius (Antiq., II, i. 2) is mistaken in believing the 
Amalekites to be the descendants of Amalech, the grandson of Esau 
(Gen. xxxvi. 12, 16). They are mentioned long before the time of Esau 
(Gen, xiv. 7). Philo reckons them among the Phenicians. 


188 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


any one retained for himself any part of what was cursed, he 
himself incurred the curse, and was put to death.? 

A temporary vow differed from the curse. Under certain cir- 
cumstances it could be removed. Not infrequently persons, es- 
tates, animals and other things, were consecrated to God and to 
the sanctuary, but they could be redeemed by payment of a 
ransom. This kind of vow was called gorban (cf. Ley. xxvii. 1, 
etc.; Mark vii. 11). 

2. Altogether different from the vows and curses of the 
Mosaic law is the banishment from the synagogues of the 
later Jews. It implies that a man is excluded from the syna- 
gogue and congregation and all intimate dealings with other 
Israelites (John ix. 22, 34). This sentence was generally pro- 
nounced in consequence of some religious offense, especially blas- 
phemy. In the Mishna and by the Rabbis this excommunication 
is called Nidduj. 

3. The Jews of the Christian era have extended this excom- 
munication, and they now distinguish three varieties of it, viz. 
Cherem = the Mosaic curse; Nidduj == simple excommunication, 
generally for 30 days; and Nidduj accompanied by a curse, often 
also called Cherem, a solemnly pronounced curse and perpetual ex- 
clusion from the congregation. 


1 The extreme severity that dominated the Old Covenant was inevit- 
able if the worship of the true God was to be maintained. It was only 
by the sternest measures that the idolatrous worship, everywhere preva- 
lent, could be repressed and prevented from contaminating God’s own 
little nation (cf. Josue vii. 21, etc.). 


FOURTH SECTION 


SACRED SEASONS 
43. Tur CALENDAR 


HE Israelites had not a solar, but a lunar year; i.e. the 
calendar was governed by the moon. 

A day was reckoned not from midnight to midnight, but from 
sunset to sunset, perhaps because it is only after the sun has gone 
down that the crescent moon shows itself in the sky. (This 
division of time has been adopted by the Church, as festivals and 
days begin with first vespers and end with second vespers.) The 
natural day, the period of daylight, was divided at first only 
into morning, noon and evening; but later into twelve hours, 
which were longer in summer than in winter. The night was 
divided into three (Judges vil. 19), and afterwards into four’ 
watches, called evening, midnight, cock-crow and morning. The 
week, a quarter of a lunar month, was based on the story of Crea- 
tion, as God created the world in six days and rested on the 
seventh day. With the exception of the seventh, the days had no 
particular names, they were called simply the first, second, ete. 
The seventh was the Sabbath = rest. 


The church adopted the Jewish week, hence the names feria secunda, 
tertia, ete., in use in ecclesiastical language. The Sabbath has retained 
its old name, and the first day of the week is called dominica, as being 
the day of our Lord’s resurrection. Among heathen nations the days 
were generally named after the heavenly bodies. This custom probably 
originated in Babylon, where astrology was practiced. In this respect 
the Israelites took nothing from the Babylonians. 


The month (=-moon) corresponds with the duration of the 
moon’s circuit round the earth. It lasted 29 or 30 days.? Ac- 


1 6wé, ueoviKTiov, ddexTopodwria, mpwi (Mark vi. 48; xiii. 35). 

? Astronomically a lunar month consists of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 
minutes and 3 seconds. For want of astronomical knowledge it was im- 
possible to determine this precisely, and people had to reckon from the 
moment when the new moon became visible. 


140 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


cording to the Talmud, whoever in or near Jerusalem caught 
sight of the new moon was bound to notify the fact to the priests 
in the Temple, who then declared the previous month with its 
29 days to be ended, and the 30th day to be the first of the new 
month. If the sky was too cloudy for the new moon to be seen, 
the month was ended with the 30th day, and the following day 
was regarded as that of the New Moon. In very early times 
no special names were given to the months, with the exception 
of the first, which was called Abib (ear of corn), but during the 
Captivity the Babylonian names came into use and are still re- 
tained by the Jews. These names, the meaning of which is 
quite obscure, are as follows: (1) Nisan, the spring month. The 
Pasch was kept on the 14th of Nisan. (2) Ljjar. (8) Swan; 
Pentecost fell on the 6th day of this month. (4) Tammus. 
(5) Ab. (6) Hlul. (7) Tishrt; on the 1st fell the civil New 
Year’s festival, on the 10th the Day of Atonement, on the 15th 
the Feast of Tabernacles. (8) Marcheshwan. (9) Kislev; the 
Yeast of the Dedication of the Temple, that occurred in winter, 
was celebrated on the 25th (John x. 22). (10) Tebeth. (11) 
Shebat. (12) Adar. Sometimes there was a thirteenth inter- 
calary month, called Veadar. 

As the Pasch had always to be celebrated at the beginning of 
harvest (about April 1st), and Pentecost at the end of it, the 
lunar year of 364 days had to be reconciled with the solar year 
of 365 days, as otherwise the festivals would have been celebrated 
at the wrong seasons. For this reason about every three years an 
intercalary month was inserted. The beginning of the year was 
probably reckoned thus: Towards the end of the 12th month 
Adar, the cornfields were surveyed to see if the barley would be 
ripe by the middle of the following month, so that the harvest 
could be begun with the ceremony of offering the first sheaf at 
the Pasch. If the corn seemed likely to be ripe, the new year 
began with the next month, but if not, the old year was lengthened 
by the month Veadar. After the Captivity, the decision whether 
the month should be inserted or not rested with the Synedrium, 
and the rule was observed that in the Sabbatical year there should 
never be 13 months. 

The new year was originally reckoned as beginning in the 


SACRED SEASONS 141 


spring, but after the Captivity it became the custom to begin 
the civil year with the first day of Zishri, in the autumn, whilst 
the religious year always began with the first day of Nisan, in 
the spring. For an agricultural people the beginning of seed- 
time seems the most appropriate date for the beginning of the 
year.* 


44, DaAtity WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLE 


Every morning and evening a lamb a year old was sacrificed 
as a burnt offering in the name of the whole people (Ex. xxix. 38; 
Num. xxvii. 3). It was accompanied by an unbloody sacrifice 
of one-tenth epha of wheat flour (rather less than two quarts), 
sprinkled with oil, and one-fourth hin (about a pint) of wine. 
Besides this, fragrant incense was laid on the altar in the Holy 
Place every day, in the morning and evening; and in the morn- 
ing, after offering the incense, the officiating priest had to pro- 
nounce Aaron’s blessing (see p. 137) over the people in the Court. 
According to tradition, at least the twelve so-called Officers of 
the Temple must be present at this ceremony, to lay their hands 
upon the victim in the name of the people, and to receive the 
blessing. 

Private sacrifices as a rule followed the usual morning offering. 

From the time of David onwards the daily services were made 
more solemn by the Levites, who provided music and psalmody. 


45. Tur SABBATH 2 


1. Origin. Keeping the Sabbath day was not peculiar to the 
Israelites; we find at least traces of it among heathen nations. 
The Babylonians and Assyrians distinguished the 7th, 14th, 21st 


* The Jewish era, reckoning from the creation of man, only came into 
general use about the fifteenth century of the Christian era. The Jews 
say that 1656 years elapsed between the creation and the Deluge, and 
3828 years between the creation and the destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Romans. According to them, the birth of Christ took place in the year 
3760. 

* Naw is an emphatic form of nzw, to rest. It designates a particular 
kind of quiet and rest. 


142 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and 28th days from the other days of the month.t A week as 
a period of seven days occurs among the Hindoos and Chinese 
and also among the people of Peru. Like the Babylonians and 
Assyrians, the Germanic nations dedicated the days of the week 
to various deities, and these names have remained, at least par- 
tially, to the present time. ‘The name sabattu or Sapattu, which 
suggests Shabbat, occurs in the cuneiform inscriptions. Among 
the Greeks and Romans all remembrance of the observance of a 
day of rest seems to have died out, and they often ridiculed the 
Jews as idlers.2 The institution of the Sabbath did not, there- 
fore, originate in the Mosaic Law, as many people assume, but 
is to be referred to the history of creation. The hallowing of the 
seventh day was therefore no new thing imposed upon the Israel- 
ites on Sinai, but it had been almost forgotten, and consequently 
they are ordered to “ Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day ” 
(Tix. 08 SG fe ex Oey ieee ereLca)e 

2. Duration. The whole nation was required to rest from 
sunset of the sixth day to sunset of the seventh. According to 
tradition, the beginning and the end of the Sabbath were made 
known by trumpet-blasts in every town in the country. 

3. Mode of Observance. The observance of the seventh day 
had both a negative and a positive side; the former consisted in 
refraining from work, the latter in particular devotion to God 
and His law. 

(a) Negative Side. The law does not contain precise instruc- 
tions regarding the kinds of work forbidden, but the general 
sense of the ordinance is quite clear from certain passages. In 
Exodus xxxv. 3, it is forbidden to light a fire for the purpose 
of cooking.*? In Numbers xv. 32, we read that picking up sticks 


* We must not, however, overlook the fact that among these nations 
the days mentioned, and also the 19th, were not days of rest and joy and 
remembrance of the Creation, but days of penance and atonement. Hence 
the Sabbath of the Pentateuch can certainly not have been derived from 
Babylon (see p. 272). 

2 Juvenal, Sat., XIV, 105; Sen. in Aug. de cw. Dei, VI, 11. 

* “ Six days you shall do work: the seventh day shall be holy unto you, 
the sabbath, and the rest of the Lord: he that shall do any work on it, 
shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in any of your habitations 
on the sabbath day.” Food for the sabbath was cooked on the preceding 
day. Also the lights were kindled before sunset on Friday evening. 


SACRED SEASONS 143 


on the Sabbath was severely punished.t It seems, therefore, that 
every kind of bodily work, even the most trivial, must cease. 
Therefore the Jews believed all traveling and trading on the 
Sabbath to be prohibited. How rigorously the Pharisees observed 
the day of rest is seen in the New Testament. The Mishna, which 
contains a special treatise on Sabbath observances, names thirty- 
nine chief kinds of work (aboth melakoth = patres operum), each 
with many subsidiary occupations (toledoth = generationes), 
which were all prohibited on the Sabbath.® 

(6) Positive Side. The Law contains no definite regulations 
for the positive observance of the Sabbath. In general, the 
Israelites regarded it as a duty to employ themselves reverently 
with God and His law. The daily sacrifice in the Temple was 
doubled * and fresh loaves of proposition (shewbread) were pro- 
vided. Prayers were held in the synagogues, and passages of 
the law and the prophets were read aloud and expounded. The 
Sabbath was regarded as a day of rejoicing (Is. lviii. 18; Judith 
vill. 6; Juke xiv. 1). Cheerful meals were held in the houses, 
as far as this was possible without cooking on the day itself, and 
people wore their best garments. 


* The offender had to be put to death. It seems likely, however, that 
he did not merely collect wood, but, in order to obtain it, either cut 
down a tree or exerted himself to break down bushes. This at least is 
the interpretation of the Samaritan Targum. 

* All that the law enacts with regard to walking is that every man 
is to stay at home and not go forth out of his place (Ex. xvi. 29). The 
doctors of the law fixed two thousand cubits, about a quarter of an 
hour’s walk, as the farthest point to which a man might go. In Acts i. 
12 the distance of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem is defined as a 
Sabbath day’s journey. Even at the present day the Sabbath day’s jour- 
ney is marked out in Jewish communities by means of a string or wire. 
The Jews refused also to bear arms on the Sabbath, often to their 
own great disadvantage. But in later times they were less strict, and 
sometimes they availed themselves of the law regarding the Sabbath to 
practice some stratagem of war. 

5’ To carry the smallest burden, even a piece of broken crockery, or a 
needle or a false tooth, was enough to violate the commandment. 

* Numbers xxviii. 9. “On the sabbath day you shall offer two lambs 
of a year old without blemish, and two tenths of flour.” 


144 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


46. Tur NEw Moons 


The Israelites kept each new moon as a religious festival. 
As the date could not be precisely fixed by means of astronomy, 
it was necessary to choose the day after the first appearance of 
the new moon; on the day when the moon changes, it cannot 
be seen, owing to the proximity of the sun. In the Temple this 
day was celebrated by special sacrifices of several animals with 
the corresponding meat and drink offerings, in addition to the 
usual sacrifices (Num. xxviii. 11, etc.). To increase the so- 
lemnity, trumpets were blown (Num. x. 10). The day was 
observed as a Sabbath, although this was not absolutely pre- 
scribed, and feasts took place. ‘The new moon of the seventh 
month (1st of Tishai) received particular honor, like the seventh 
day of the week; it was called the day of the blowing of trum- 
pets; and on it an extra sacrifice was offered, over and above 
those usually offered at the new moons (Num. xx. 2, etc.). As 
after the Captivity the civil year began with the seventh new 
moon, this day is also called New Year’s day. 

The custom of honoring the new moons has been altogether lost under 
the new Covenant, perhaps because the Sun of Righteousness has arisen, 
and so the faint moonlight of the Old Covenant is bound to disappear. 
The change seems to rest upon instructions given by the Apostles. Just 
like the observance of the first instead of the last day of the week, the 
abolition of the New Moon ceremonies marks the freedom of Christians 


from the Jewish law. Saint Paul writes to this effect in Galatians iv. 
10 and Colossians ii. 16, ete. © 


4%. Tur SABBATICAL YEAR 


(Leviticus xxv.) 


Men and beasts, after six days of work, had to dedicate the 
seventh day to God and spend it in rest; and in the same way, 
after six years of cultivation and fruit-bearing, the whole country 
was ordered to keep a year’s Sabbath in God’s honor, and to 
rest. During this seventh year no field might be cultivated or 
sown, no garden and no fruit tree might receive attention. What- 
ever grew without any action on the part of mankind, was com- 
mon property, belonging to all without distinction. 


SACRED SEASONS 145 


The Sabbatical year always began in the autumn, when the 
usual sowing did not take place. 

As during the Sabbatical year no profit could be derived 
from the soil, it necessarily followed that no creditor could 
forcibly demand payment of debts during it. In the same way 
no taxes could be claimed by the government. According to 
Josephus Flavius (Ant., XIV, x. 6), even the pagan rulers of 
Palestine always remitted their taxes to the Jews in the Sab- 
batical year. 

On the Feast of Tabernacles in this year, the Mosaic law 
(Deut. xxxi. 10-14) required that the law should be solemnly 
read aloud to the whole people by the Levites in the sanctuary. 


It is a mistake to suppose (1) that as soon as the Sabbatical year 
began, every debtor was absolutely released from payment, so that his 
creditor had thenceforth no claim upon him. The law only states (Deut. 
xv. 2) that in this year the creditor shall not raise his hand, nor oppress 
his neighbor therewith, i.e. in this year he is not recklessly to claim his 
due, as his debtor can have no income. (2) Equally mistaken is the 
supposition that Hebrew slaves always obtained their freedom in the 
Sabbatical year. The law (Ex. xxi. 2; Deut. xv. 12) orders their emanci- 
pation to take place in the seventh year, i.e. not necessarily in the Sab- 
batical year, but in the seventh year of their service. Although slavery 
existed in Israel as well as in the rest of the ancient world, it was of a 
far milder type than among the heathen (cf. also the following). 


48. THe YEAR OF JUBILEE 


After seven times seven years there followed one year (no 
doubt beginning in the autumn) of particular rejoicing. This 
was called the Jubilee, schenath hajjobel, because on the 10th 
of the month Tishri, i. e. on the Day of Atonement of the seventh 
Sabbatical year, it was proclaimed throughout the country with 
the sound of trumpets. 

1. In this year the whole land rested, as in the Sabbatical 
year, and might not be cultivated. Thus in two successive years 
there was no agriculture, but the fertility of the soil was so 
great that provision could be made, and there was no reason 
to fear a famine. The rest affected only agriculture; cattle 
breeding and other business went on as usual. 

2. In the year of jubilee all persons, who for any reason had 


146 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


been reduced to slavery, were set at liberty, if one of their 
relatives had not previously purchased their freedom. When a 
man was set free, all the members of his family acquired their 
freedom.* 

3. All landed property that had passed into the possession of 
strangers reverted in the year of jubilee to the original owner 
or his descendants, without payment. ‘This contributed greatly 
to the prevention of oppression and destitution among the 
people. 

Josephus Flavius (Ant., II, xii. 3) says that in the year of jubilee 


all debts were canceled; but there is no mention of this in Holy Scrip- 
ture, and no stress can be laid upon the statement. 


THE YEARLY RECURRING FESTIVALS 


49. Tur PascH 


I. The Pasch (Ex. xi.).2 The first and most important 
festival in the year was always the Pasch, celebrated on the 14th 
of Nisan. ‘The feast itself and the seven days following it com- 
memorated the delivery of the Israelites from Egypt. On the 
10th day of the first month a male lamb, free from blemish, and 
one year old, was set aside for each family. On the 14th, about 
sunset (Deut. xvi. 6),® the head of the household killed it. If 
any family was too small to eat a whole lamb, two families might 
unite for the purpose. A bundle of hyssop was dipped into the 
blood as it streamed out, and some was smeared on the two door- 
posts and on the lintel of the house. No bone of the animal might 


1 This applied only to the slaves who were Israelites, not to those who 
were Gentiles. The latter could be bequeathed by a man to his descend- 
ants (Lev. xxv. 46). The law disapproved of the enslavement of people 
of the same race (Lev. xxv. 42. Cf. John viii. 33). 

* xDD is the Aramaic name; the Hebrew is 109; both signify pass- 
ing over, sparing. 

* Exodus xii. 6, “ between the two evenings.” Various explanations 
are given of this expression; it probably means that the killing was to 
take place just at sunset. Before the sun went down, the evening be- 
longed to the 14th, after sunset, to the 15th of Nisan. Each evening was 
divided into two parts, one belonging to the preceding, and the other to 
the following day. The modern Samaritans sacrifice on Mount Garizim, 
as soon as the sun has set. . 


SACRED SEASONS 147 


be broken, nor was it cut up, but, after the skin and the entrails 
had been removed, it was roasted whole at the fire. When it 
was cooked through, it had to be eaten the same night, with 
unleavened bread and bitter herbs.t. All the household took 
part in the meal; only the uncircumcised were excluded. As 
the ceremony commemorated the flight from Egypt, all present 
had to have their loins girt, shoes on their feet, and a staff in 
their hand.* The head of the house had to explain why the 
feast was held. What could not be consumed must be burnt on 
the following morning. 

When settled conditions prevailed in Palestine a change was 
made in the ceremony, and all full-grown males were required 
to attend in the sanctuary. The Paschal lambs were no longer 
sacrificed in each house, but were killed and eaten near the 
Tabernacle or Temple. Some of the blood was sprinkled on the 
altar and the fatty parts were burnt. Pilgrims visiting Jerusa- 
lem at the time of the festival received the necessary accommo- 
dation gratis from the inhabitants, but it was usual to present 
the hosts with the lambs’ skins. As the number of strangers 
was very great, many spent the nights in the open air, and ate 
the lamb in tents. 

Whoever was prevented from keeping the feast on the 14th 
of Nisan, by reason either of legal uncleanness or some other 
impediment, was bound to keep the Pasch on the 14th of the 
second month, under pain of death. 


The Pasch, like all the Old Covenant, though in a special degree, had 
a symbolical meaning. It represents the sacrifice of Christ, the true 
Paschal lamb, not one of whose bones was broken on the Cross, and whose 
blood brings forgiveness to mankind. His death and the sacrifice of the 
Holy Eucharist obtained thereby are means of salvation for all men. 
For this reason every one was sentenced to death who took no part in 
the celebration of the Pasch. 

According to the Mishna (Pesach 10), the Paschal rites were per- 
formed as follows: In commemoration of Ged’s promise in Exodus Vi. 
6: “I am the Lord, who will bring you out from the work-prison of the 


1 Merorim. Apparently these might not be selected at will, but the 
wild lettuce is meant; for the Septuagint has mixpides, and the Vulgate 
lactuca agrestis. 

2 It was not until the institution of the Eucharist that Saint John 
leant on our Lord’s breast (John xiii. 25). 


148 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage and redeem you with a 
high arm .. . and I will take you to myself for my people ” — four cups 
of wine were brought in. After the first cup the roasted lamb with the 
unleavened bread and bitter herbs was carried in, whilst the 112th and 
113th Psalms were sung (in the Heb., 113 and 114). The second cup of 
wine was now handed round. Then the son asked the father the meaning 
and significance of the Paschal ceremony (Ex. xii. 26) and the father ex- 
plained fully that it was held in remembrance of the delivery from 
Egypt and the sparing of the firstborn among the Israelites. The un- 
leavened bread was next distributed and then the third cup, the “ cup 
of blessing,” was handed round; it was so called because meantime the 
blessing was pronounced over the food, which was now eaten. After the 
feast the fourth cup of wine was passed round, and at the close the 114th 
to 117th Psalms were sung. A fifth cup might be added; if so, 
Psalms 119 to 136 had to be sung. 

Our Saviour appears to have instituted the Holy Eucharist after the 
fourth cup of wine, so that He made the optional fifth cup the “ cup of 
blessing” of the New Covenant (I Cor. x. 6), i.e. the chalice of His 
Blood. Also the washing of the feet, which was the preparation for the 
Holy Eucharist, cannot have taken place until after the fourth cup had 
been drunk, for Saint John says (xiii. 2): ‘‘ When supper was done... 
he riseth from supper [ék rov defrvdvu] and . . . girded himself,” ete. In 
the same way Saint Paul says (I Cor. xi. 25) wera 7d derrvqoat = postquam 
cenavit. The Paschal feast was therefore at an end; now followed the 
washing of the feet and the feast of the New Covenant, and that was 
concluded with singing psalms (Matt. xxvi. 30). 


II. The Paschal supper was not the whole of the festival, 
which lasted for an entire week. Connected with the Pasch 
was the seven days’ feast of unleavened bread (chag hammazzoth) 
from the 15th to the 21st of Nisan. On the 15th and 21st 
people refrained from work? and assembled in the sanctuary; 
the other days might be spent in work, provided the weekly Sab- 
bath did not fall upon one of them. On each of the seven 
days a special sacrifice was offered after the usual daily sacri- 
fice (Num. xxvill. 19-23). Only unleavened bread might be 
eaten during the whole period, and after midday on the 14th 
no leaven might remain in the houses. 


* Leviticus xxiii. 7, 8. ‘‘ The first day shall be most solemn unto you 
and holy, you shall do no servile work therein, but you shall offer sacri- 
fice in fire to the Lord seven days. And the seventh day shall be more 
solemn and more holy, and you shall do no servile work therein.” Cf. 
Numbers xxviii. 18. As only “servile work ” is expressly forbidden, we 
may infer that these days were not required to be kept as Sabbaths. For 
this reason the bodies of Christ and the two thieves could be taken down 
from the cross on this day (John xix. 31, ete.). 


SACRED SEASONS 149 


The festival was regarded as the beginning of the harvest. 
Therefore on the 16th of Nisan, the second day,’ the beginning 
of the harvest was marked by the offering of a sheaf of barley.? 
Before this offering was made, none of the new harvest might 
be used. 


Significance. We read in Exodus xii. 34 that for some days after 
leaving Egypt the Israelites were obliged to eat unleavened bread, be- 
cause, in the haste of their departure, there was no time to leaven the 
bread prepared for baking. In God’s design this historical fact was in- 
tended to symbolize a higher thought. Leaven is a type of original sin, 
and so unleavened bread was suitable food for the sanctified race that 
had just been cut off from the horrors of Egyptian idolatry. By the 
yearly recurrence of the practice of eating such bread they were con- 
stantly reminded and admonished to keep themselves free from sin. — 
We need not hesitate to assume that on entering Palestine the Israelites 
found a festival, resembling this sequel to the Pasch, among the Chanaan- 
ites, celebrating the beginning of harvest, but they brought their own 
ideas into it. The same is true of Pentecost and the Feast of Taber- 
nacles at the close of the harvest. (Compare the Yule feast and the sum- 
mer solstice feast observed by Teutonic nations on December 25 and June 
24. The preachers of Christianity found these feasts already existing.) 


50. PENTECOST 


(Ex. xxxiv. 22; Lev. xxiii. 15, etc.; Deut. xvi. 9, etc.) 


1. From the 16th of Nisan, on which the harvest was opened 
by the offering of the first sheaf, seven full weeks were reckoned, 
and another festival observed on the 50th day. This was Pente- 
cost, so called because it fell on the 50th day (aevrnKocty sc. 
nuépa) after the beginning of harvest. 

2. It was also called the Feast of Weeks (Ex. xxxiv. 22; Deut. 
xvi. 9) because seven weeks had to pass before it might be cele- 
brated. Another name was the Feast of the Harvest (Ex. xxiii. 
16), because as the harvest was then over, it was regarded as 


1 Leviticus xxiii. 11, mimmachorath haschschabbat = altero die sab- 
batt. The 15th was the first and chief day of the festival, on which 
people refrained from all heavy work. Knobel and Hitzig regard the 
15th as the beginning of harvest. 

* The law does not specify what kind of grain is to be offered, nor does 
the Mishna; but there can be no doubt that barley is meant, as it is the 
first to ripen. According to the Mishna it was not the sheaf itself that 
was offered, but flour hastily ground from it, and of this an ascara was 
placed on the altar. 


150 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


a thanksgiving festival. In Numbers xxviii. 26 it is called the 
Feast of First Fruits, because two loaves were then offered as the 
first bread baked from the new harvest. 

3. Legal regulations: (a) Again on this day all adult males 
were required to appear in the sanctuary (Ex. xxii. 16), and 
they were expected to bring with them free-will offerings accord- 
ing to the abundance of the harvest. In later times this festival 
was largely attended by foreign Jews, because it occurred at the 
most favorable season (Acts 11. 9-11). 

(6) All work, except cooking, had to cease. 

(c) After the ordinary morning sacrifice, there was another 
special offering of several beasts with the accompanying meat 
and drink offerings (Num. xxviil. 26, etc.). 

(d) Two loaves of wheaten flour were offered as the first 
fruits of the harvest now just gathered in. These loaves were 
leavened, hence they might not be burnt on the altar, but were 
only “ waved ” and then eaten by the priests. Two lambs were 
sacrificed as a thank offering. 

4. The feast lasted, according to the law, only one day, but 
modern Jews have added another day. 

5. In Holy Scripture this feast appears only as a harvest 
festival; but it cannot be accidental that it coincides exactly 
with the season when the law was given on Sinai. We are 
therefore forced to assume that Pentecost had a double sig- 
nificance: it was the harvest thanksgiving, but it was at the 
same time a commemoration of the giving of the law, and 
Jewish and Christian tradition both lay more stress on the 
latter than on the former significance. Cf., however, H. Grimm, 
Das isr. Pfingstfest und der Plejadenkult, Paderborn, 1907. 


51. Tue Day or ATONEMENT ! 


On the 10th day of Tishri, the ?th month, Israel celebrated 
every year its reconciliation with the Lord. All work was 


1 Jom hakkippwrim; in the Mishna “the Great Day ” or simply “ the 
Day,” joma. The passages of the law relating to it are Lev. xvi. 1-34, 
xxili. 26-32; Num. xxix. 7-11. Josephus Flavius refers to it (Antig. 
Ulesea)s 


SACRED SEASONS 151 


forbidden on this day, and the whole nation was required to 
fast, 1.e. to take no food at all, from the evening of the 9th to 
the evening of the 10th of Tishrt. 

Preparations. This was the day when the high priest per- 
formed his chief functions. He was obliged to watch during the 
whole preceding night, so as not to become unclean according to 
the law. In the morning he bathed, and put on the simple 
white dress of a priest. In this attire, without the distinctive 
ornaments of his rank, he appeared as a penitent. For himself 
and his house, i.e. for the entire priesthood, he brought a young 
bullock as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering; and 
from the people he received two he-goats, one to be a sin offer- 
ing, the other to be turned loose into the desert, and also a ram 
to be a burnt offering. With these five beasts expiation was to 
be made for priests and people. 

After the ordinary morning sacrifice, the ceremonial peculiar 
to the day began, and the high priest, standing in the Court 
of the Temple, before the sanctuary, cast lots for the two goats, 
to decide which should be dedicated to Yahweh and which to 
Asasel.?, The one on whom the lot fell “for the Lord” was 
destined to be slain as a sin offering; the other who received 
the lot “ for Asasel” was to be forever removed from the abode 
of Israel. 

After casting these lots, the high priest made a confession 
of sins and then slew the bullock for himself and all the priests. 
He next took the censer, filled it with coals from the altar, and 
taking incense with him, passed through the Holy Place into 


* His dress was distinguished from that of ordinary priests only by 
having a plain white girdle instead of a colored one (Lev. xvi. 4). 

* The meaning of this name is uncertain; probably it signifies the 
chief devil (Gesenwi thes., 1012; Ewald, Altertumskunde, 402; Maurer, 
Handworterbuch ; Knobel on Lev. x.). The name is an intensive form of 
‘asal or ’asal, to separate, connected with the Arabic ‘azal. The full form 
should be Asalsel; in the same way Babel is a shortened form of Balbel, 
and Golgotha of Golgoltha. The word denotes the wicked one, who, cut 
off from others, lives apart. The Arabs still believe that the desert is 
the devil’s abode. Cf. also Luke xi. 24, where our Saviour speaks of the 
unclean spirit as being in the wilderness. In Tobias viii. 3 we read that 
the devil was banished to a distant desert. It was in the wilderness 
that our Lord was tempted by the devil. 


152 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the Holy of Holies, where he strewed the incense on the coals 
immediately, so that the cloud of smoke might rise up between 
him and the Lord, and he might not die. Then he came out 
again and, taking with him the bullock’s blood, he re-entered 
the Holy of Holes, and with his finger sprinkled the blood 
once on the front of the Kapporeth, and seven times on the 
ground in front of the ark of the covenant. Then, com- 
ing out, he sacrificed in the Court the goat destined for 
Yahweh, as a sin offering on behalf of the people. He used 
its blood in the same way, going again into the Holy of 
Holies. By means of these sprinklings with blood, the Holy 
and Most Holy Places were purified from the defilements that 
the priests might have caused in the course of the year. The 
high priest now returned to the Court, and smeared the horns 
of the altar of holocausts with the mingled blood of the bul- 
lock and the goat, and sprinkled the blood seven times on the 
ground beside the altar. Thus both the altar and the court 
were purified. 

The high priest next proceeded to set the living goat, destined 
for Asasel, before him in the Court. He laid both his hands 
upon its head and pronounced a solemn confession of sin in the ~ 
name of the people. A man stood ready to drive away the goat, 
thus laden with sins, into the desert, that it might die or be lost 
there. All the sins of Israel were believed to vanish with it.* 
The high priest returned to the sanctuary, took off the garments 
he had worn hitherto, bathed somewhere in the neighborhood, 
and put on all the attire belonging to his office. Then he went 
back to the Court, and offered the two rams, that still remained, 
as holocausts, one for himself and the priesthood, the other for 
the people. The flesh of the two sin offerings (the bullock and 
one goat) was carried, after the fat had been burnt on the 
altar, outside the camp or town, and was there destroyed by 
fire. Those who performed this duty, as well as the man who 
had taken the living goat into the wilderness, were required to 
wash their garments and to bathe before returning. 

Other special sacrifices, enumerated in Numbers xxix. 7-11, 


* The man received instructions to throw the goat down somewhere if 
possible, that it might be sure to perish. 


SACRED SEASONS 153 


were offered before the usual evening sacrifice.1 This ended the 
day’s ceremonies. 


If we are asked how many times the high priest entered the Holy of 
Holies on this day, we cannot reply, with Philo, that he did so twice, but 
we must agree with the Talmud that he entered it four times. First he 
earried in the incense, then the blood of the bullock, then that of the 
goat, and lastly he had to fetch out the censer, which, according to the 
Talmud, he did after the evening sacrifice. In coming out of the Holy 
of Holies, the high priest was required never to turn his back to the 
Kapporeth. 

It is not difficult, after what has been said, to recognize the significa- 
tion of this day. It was intended that on the Day of Atonement all 
transgressions of priests and people should be expiated. The chief 
feature in the ceremonial was the sending forth of the goat into the 
wilderness, carrying with him all the sins of the Israelites committed 
during the year. The wilderness was supposed to be the abode of devils, 
and by the fact that the sins were sent back thither, they were returned 
to the devils, from whom they had originally come.’ 


52. FRrAstT oF TABERNACLES 
(Lev. xxili. 34, ete.; Ex. xxiii. 16; Deut. xvi. 13) 


The Day of Atonement was penitential in character, but the 
Feast of Tabernacles (chag hassukkoth), celebrated five days 
later, was a joyful festival. It marked the completion of the 
gathering in of all the fruits, and lasted from the 15th to the 
21st of Trshri, occurring thus exactly six months after the Pasch. 
Sabbath rest was observed on the first and eighth days, i.e. the 
15th and 22d of Tishri, the latter being added to close the 
festival, but not being reckoned as actually part of it; the other 
days were not ordered to be kept as Sabbaths. All adult males 
again appeared in the sanctuary, and on each day solemn sacri- 
fices were offered. On the first day booths of green boughs of 


* One he-goat as a sin offering, one bullock, one ram and seven lambs 
as holocausts, with the customary meat and drink offerings. 

* The ceremony called Taschlich, observed by the Jews in various 
countries, still contains a reminiscence of the Day of Atonement. Wher- 
ever the Jews live near running water (as, for instance, in Vienna), they 
are in the habit of praying beside it for forgiveness of sins, and after 
the prayer they throw a handkerchief into the water, or they put their 
hands into their pockets, as if to take out something which they then 
pretend to throw into the water. The sins of the preceding year are 
supposed to be carried away by the stream, 


154 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


trees were erected in the streets and open spaces, and also on 
the roofs and in the courtyards of the houses; and these were 
occupied by the people throughout the festival, though probably 
only occasionally. This custom commemorated the dwelling of 
the ancient Israelites in tents, after their departure from Egypt. 


According to the Mishna (succah III, 1, etc.) those participating in 
the festival carried in their hands branches of citrons and palms. More- 
over a solemn libation of water was made each day. At the time of the 
morning sacrifice a priest fetched water from the spring of Siloe in a 
golden jug, and poured it and wine together into two bowls or pipes 
near the altar. Music and singing accompanied this ceremony. In the 
evening the court of the women was illuminated in honor of the feast. 
It seems that our Saviour referred to these customs when He said (John 
vii. and viii.) : ‘If any man thirst, let him come to me,” and “‘ I am the 
light of the world.” It is probable that the libation of water had refer- 
ence to the water from the rock, and the illumination to the pillar of 
fire in the wilderness. 


53. FESTIVALS INSTITUTED AFTER THE CAPTIVITY 


After the return of the Jews from Captivity, several festivals 
were added to those prescribed by the Mosaic law, and some of 
those then introduced are still observed. We may mention: 

1. The Feast of Purim. The name comes from the Persian 
word pur,’ plural purim = lots. The Persian governor, Aman, 
had determined on the death of all the Jews in the Persian 
Empire, and the 13th of Adar had been chosen by lot as the 
day for this massacre.2_ The murderous plan was frustrated 
through Queen Esther and her kinsman, Mardocheus. In re- 
membrance of this event, the Jews, first in Persia, but after- 
wards also in Palestine and elsewhere, celebrated a festival on 
the 14th and 15th of Adar, keeping the 13th as a fast. The 
celebration consisted in reading the Book of Esther aloud in 
the synagogues; joyful feasts were held in the houses (cf. Book 
of Esther). 


1 Esther iii. 7. 139 Heb. 9193 = lot. 

? If it should appear incredible that so many thousands could be mur- 
dered at the command of the king, we may remember that between the 
years 1896 and 1900 in Turkey about three hundred thousand harmless 
Armenians were butchered by the rabble under the eyes of the Turkish 
rulers. The ambassadors of the European powers vainly protested 
against this “ Asiatic barbarity.” 


SACRED SEASONS 155 


2. The Feast of the Dedication of the Temple (ta éyxaina, 
Encenia, John x.) was kept every year in commemoration of 
the purification of the Temple from the idolatrous worship of 
the Syrians, and its re-dedication by Judas Machabeus in 
164 B.c. On the 25th of Kislev and on the following seven days 
the houses in Jerusalem and other places were illuminated; hence 
Josephus calls the feast @w@rta. There seems to have been no 
special ceremony in the Temple, but perhaps more sacrifices 
than usual were offered. 

3. The Feast of Rejowing of the Law, on the 23d of Tishre. 
On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles every year the read- 
ing of the Pentateuch was concluded, and on the following day 
again begun. 

4. The Feast of Wood Carrying (€vAogpopia or éoprn 
EvAopopiwy ) was, according to Josephus (Bell. Jud., II, 17, 6), 
celebrated on the 14th of Ab, but the Talmud does not mention 
it. It appears that all who wished to do so carried wood to the 
Temple on this day, for the maintenance of the fire on the 
altar of holocausts. 

According to Nehemias x. 34, certain families were appointed 
by lot, at least in the period immediately after the Captivity, to 
supply wood, and the days on which they performed this duty 
were, for the persons concerned, days of rejoicing and honor. 


Modern Jews observe the following festivals: 

(1) The Pasch, 15th to 22d of Nisan. 

(2) Lag Beomer, 18th of Ijjar, to commemorate the cessation of a 
pestilence. 

(3) Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, 6th and 7th of Sivan. 

(4) New Year, Ist and 2d of Tishri. 

(5) Day of Atonement, 10th of Tishri. 

(6) Feast of Tabernacles, 15th to 22d of Tishri. 

(7) Rejoicing of the Law, 23d of Tishri. 

(8) Dedication of the Temple, 25th of Kislev. 

(9) Feast of Purim, 14th and 15th of Adar. And all the Sabbaths of 
the year. 


~ an 


yr 
@ ~ - 





ER De DAL 





HOLY SCRIPTURE 


DECREES OF THE HOLY SEE RELATING TO 
HOLY SCRIPTURE 


ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF LEO XIII, “PROVIDENTISSIMUS 
DEUS,” 


November 18, 1893 ~ 
THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH 


HE God of all providence, who in the adorable designs of His love 

at first elevated the human race to the participation of the divine 
nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin, re- 
storing it to its primitive dignity, has, in consequence, bestowed upon 
man a splendid gift and safeguard — making known to him, by super- 
natural means, the hidden mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom and His 
mercy. For although in divine revelation there are contained some 
things which are not beyond the reach of unassisted reason, and which 
are made the objects of such revelation in order “that all may come to 
know them with facility, certainty, and safety from error, yet not on this 
account can supernatural revelation be said to be absolutely necessary ; 
it is only necessary because God has ordained man to a supernatural 
end.”? This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the uni- 
versal Church, is contained both in unwritten tradition and in written 
books, which are, therefore, called sacred and canonical because, “ being 
written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their 
author, and as such have been delivered to the Church.” ? This belief has 
been perpetually held and professed by the Church in regard to the Books 
of both Testaments; and there are well-known documents of the gravest 
kind, coming down to us from the earliest times, which proclaim that 
God, who spoke first by the prophets, then by His own mouth, and lastly 
by the apostles, composed also the canonical Scriptures,® and that these 
are His own oracles and words*—a Letter written by our Heavenly 
Father and transmitted by the sacred writers to the human race in its 
pilgrimage so far from its heavenly country.’ If, then, such and so great 
is the excellence and dignity of the Scriptures, that God Himself has com- 
posed them, and that they treat of God’s marvelous mysteries, counsels 


* Conc. Vat. sess. iii. cap. ii. de revel. 

fe. bid: 

* S. Aug. de civ. Dei. xi. 3. 

* S. Clem. Rom. 1 ad Cor. 45; S. Polycarp, ad Phil. 7; S. Iren. ec. 
her. ii. 28, 2. 

*S. Chrys. in Gen-hom; 2, 2; Se Aug. in Ps..xxx., serm: 2,:1;.8. 
Greg. M. ad Theo. ep. iv. 31. 


160 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and works, it follows that the branch of sacred theology which is con- 
cerned with the defense and elucidation of these divine books must be 
excellent and useful in the highest degree. 


THE INTENTION OF THE HOLY FATHER 


Now We, who by the help of God, and not without fruit, have by fre- 
quent Letters and exhortation endeavored to promote other branches of 
study which seem capable of advancing the glory of God and contributing 
to the salvation of souls, have for a long time cherished the desire to give 
an impulse to the noble science of Holy Scripture, and to impart to Serip- 
ture study a direction suitable to the needs of the present day. The solici- 
tude of the apostolic office naturally urges, and even compels us, not only 
to desire that this grand source of Catholic revelation should be made 
safely and abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also 
not to suffer any attempt to defile or corrupt it, either on the part of 
those who impiously or openly assail the Scriptures, or of those who are 
led astray into fallacious and imprudent novelties. We are not igno- 
rant, indeed, Venerable Brethren, that there are not a few Catholics, 
men of talent and learning, who do devote themselves with ardor to the 
defense of the sacred writings and to making them known and better 
understood. But whilst giving to these the commendation they deserve, 
We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and piety 
and learning We have a right to expect good results, to give themselves 
to the same most praiseworthy work. It is Our wish and fervent desire 
to see an increase in the number of the approved and persevering laborers 
in the cause of Holy Scripture; and more especially that those whom 
divine grace has called to Holy Orders should, day by day, as their state 
demands, display greater diligence and industry in reading, meditating, 
and explaining it. 


BENEFIT OF BIBLE STUDY 
A. In General 


Among the reasons for which the Holy Scripture is so worthy of com- 
mendation — in addition to its own excellence and to the homage which 
we owe to God’s Word —the chief of all is, the innumerable benefits of 
which it is the source, according to the infallible testimony of the Holy 
Ghost Himself, who says: All Scripture inspired of God is profitable to 
teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice: that the man of God 
may be perfect, furnished to every good work." That such was the pur- 
pose of God in giving the Scripture to men is shown by the example of 
Christ our Lord and of His apostles. For He Himself who “ obtained 
authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew 
to himself the multitude” * was accustomed, in the exercise of His divine 
mission, to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove 
that He is sent by God, and is God Himself. From them He cites in- 
structions for His disciples and confirmation of His doctrine. He vindi- 


SBR Gs Siiamahr ry aie che 2S. Aug. de util. cred. xiv. 32. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 161 


cates them from the calumnies of objectors; He quotes them against 
Sadducees and Pharisees and retorts from them upon Satan himself when 
he dares to tempt Him. At the close of His life His utterances are from 
the Holy Scripture, and it is the Scripture that He expounds to His dis- 
ciples after His resurrection, until He ascends to the glory of His Father. 
Faithful to His precepts, the apostles, although He Himself granted 
signs and wonders to be done by their hands, nevertheless used with the 
greatest effect the sacred writings, in order to persuade the nations every- 
where of the wisdom of Christianity, to conquer the obstinacy of the 
Jews, and to suppress the outbreak of heresy. This is plainly seen in 
their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter; these were often little 
less than a series of citations from the Old Testament making in the 
strongest manner for the new dispensation. We find the same things in 
the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and in the Catholic Epistles; 
and, most remarkable of all, in the words of him who “ boasts that he 
learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel, in order that, being armed with 
spiritual weapons, he might afterwards say with confidence, ‘the arms of 
our warfare are not carnal but mighty unto God.’”? Let all, therefore, 
especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army, understand how deeply 
the sacred books should be esteemed, and with what eagerness and rever- 
ence they should approach this great arsenal of heavenly arms. For 
those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine before the learned or 
the unlearned will nowhere find more ample matter or more abundant 
exhortation, whether on the subject of God, the supreme Good and the 
all-perfect Being, or the works which display His glory and His love. 
Nowhere is there anything more full or more express on the subject of 
the Saviour of the world than is to be found in the whole range of the 
Bible. As St. Jerome says, to be ignorant of the Scripture is not to 
know Christ2 In its pages His Image stands out, living and breathing; 
diffusing everywhere around consolation in trouble, encouragement to 
virtue, and attraction to the love of God. And as to the Church, her 
institutions, her nature, her office and her gifts, we find in Holy Scrip- 
ture so many references and so many ready and convincing arguments 
that, as St. Jerome again most truly says, “ A man who is well grounded 
in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church.” * And 
if we come to morality and discipline, an apostolic man finds in the 
sacred writings abundant and excellent assistance; most holy precepts, 
gentle and strong exhortation, splendid examples of every virtue, and 
finally the promise of eternal reward and the threat of eternal punish- 
ment, uttered in terms of solemn import, in God’s name and in God’s 
own words. 


B. For the Pulpit Orator 


And it is this peculiar and singular power of Holy Scripture, arising 
from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, which gives authority to the 


1 Acts xiv. 3. 

2 St. Hier. de stud. Script. ad Paulin. ep. liii. 3. 
8 in Isaiam, Prol. 

* in Isaiam liv. 12. 


162 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


sacred orator, fills him with apostolic liberty of speech, and communicates 
force and power to his eloquence. For those who infuse into their efforts 
the spirit and strength of the Word of God speak not in word only, but 
in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fullness.’ Hence, those 
preachers are foolish and improvident who, in speaking of religion and 
proclaiming the things of God, use no words but those of human science 
and human prudence, trusting to their own reasonings rather than to 
those of God. Their discourses may be brilliant and fine, but they must 
be feeble and they must be cold, for they are without the fire of the 
utterance of God? and they must fall far short of that mighty power 
which the speech of God possesses: for the Word of God is living and 
effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and reaching 
unto the division of the soul and the spirit But, indeed, those who have 
a right to speak are agreed that there is in the Holy Scripture an elo- 
quence that is wonderfully varied and rich and worthy of great themes. 
This St. Augustine thoroughly understood and has abundantly set forth.‘ 
This, also, is confirmed by the best preachers of all ages, who have grate- 
fully acknowledged that they owed their repute chiefly to the assiduous 
use of the Bible, and to devout meditation on its pages. 

The Holy Fathers well knew all this by practical experience, and they 
never cease to extol the sacred Scripture and its fruits. In innumerable 
passages of their writings we find them applying to it such phrases as an 
mexhaustible treasury of heavenly doctrine,’ or an overflowing fountain 
of salvation,’ or putting it before us as fertile pastures and beautiful 
gardens in which the flock of the Lord is marvelously refreshed and 
delighted.’ Let us listen to the words of St. Jerome, in his Epistle to 
Nepotian: “Often read the divine Scriptures; yea, let holy reading be 
always in thy hand; study that which thou thyself must preach... . 
Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned with Scriptural reading.” * 
St. Gregory the Great, than whom no one has more admirably described 
the pastoral office, writes in the same sense. ‘‘ Those,” he says, “ who 
are zealous in the work of preaching must never cease the study of the 
written Word of God.” *® St. Augustine, however, warns us that “‘ vainly 
does the preacher utter the Word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it 
interiorly ”; * and St. Gregory instructs sacred orators “ first to find 
in Holy Scripture the knowledge of themselves, and then carry it to 
others, lest in reproving others they forget themselves.” Admonitions 
such as these had, indeed, been uttered long before by the apostolic voice 
which had learned its lesson from Christ Himself, who ‘“ began to do 


1 I Thess. i. 5. ® Hebr. iv. 12. 
2 Jerem. xxiii. 29. * De doctr. chr. iv. 6, 7. 
* §. Chrys. in Gen. Hom. xxi. 2; Hom. Ix. 3; §S. Aug. de Disc. 
Christ. ii. 
° S. Athan. ep. fest. xxxix. 
. Aug. serm. xxvi. 24; S. Ambr. in Ps. exviii. serm, xix. 2. 
. Hier. de vita cleric. ad Nepot. 
. Greg. M. Regul. past. ii. 11 (al. 22); Moral. xvii. 26 (al. 14). 
. Aug. serm. clxxix. 1. 


. Greg. M. Regul. past. iii. 24 (al. 14). 


ANNNN 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 163 


and teach.” It was not to Timothy alone, but to the whole order of the 
clergy, that the command was addressed: Take heed to thyself and to 
doctrine; be earnest in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save 
thyself and them that hear thee. For the saving and for the perfection 
of ourselves and of others there is at hand the very best of help in the 
Holy Scriptures, as the Book of Psalms, among others, so constantly 
insists; but those only will find it who bring to this divine reading 
not only docility and attention but also piety and an innocent life. For 
the sacred Scripture is not like other books. Dictated by the Holy 
Ghost, it contains things of the deepest importance, which in many in- 
stances are most difficult and obscure. To understand and explain such 
things there is always required the ‘ coming” * of the same Holy Spirit ; 
that is to say, His light and His grace; and these, as the royal psalmist 
so frequently insists, are to be sought by humble prayer and guarded 
by holiness of life. 


THE SOLICITUDE OF THE CHURCH 


It is in this that the watchful eye of the Church shines forth con- 
spicuously. By admirable laws and regulations, she has shown herself 
solicitous that “the celestial treasure of the sacred books, so bountifully 
bestowed upon man by the Holy Spirit, should not le neglected.”* She 
has prescribed that a considerable portion of them shall be read and 
piously reflected upon by all her ministers in the daily office of the sacred 
psalmody. She has ordered that in cathedral churches, in monasteries, 
and in other convents in which study can conveniently be pursued, they 
shall be expounded and interpreted by capable men; and she has strictly 
commanded that her children shall be fed with the saving words of the 
Gospel at least on Sundays and solemn feasts. Moreover, it is owing to 
the wisdom and exertions of the Church that there has always been con- 
tinued, from century to century, that cultivation of Holy Scripture which 
has been so remarkable and has borne such ample fruit. 


A. In the Early Tumes 


And here, in order to strengthen Our teaching and Our exhortations, 
it is well to recall how, from the beginning of Christianity, all who have 
neen renowned for holiness of life and sacred learning have given their 
feep and constant attention to Holy Scripture. If we consider the im- 
mediate disciples of the apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of 
Antioch, St. Polycarp,——or the apologists, such as St. Justin and St. 
Jreneus, — We find that in their letters and books, whether in defense of 
the Catholic faith or in its commendation, they drew faith, strength, and 
unction from the Word of God. When there arose, in various sees, cate- 
chetical and theological schools, of which the most celebrated were those 
of Alexandria and of Antioch, there was little taught in those schools but 
what was contained in the reading, the interpretation, and the defense 
of the divine written word. From them came forth numbers of Fathers 
and writers whose laborious studies and admirable writings have justly 


2-1 Tim: iv. 16. ® Conc. Trid. sess. v. decret. de reform. 1. 
Sie bier sine MiGs LO.stenas | Difcei sno. 


164 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


merited for the three following centuries the appellation of the golden 
age of biblical exegesis. In the Eastern Church the greatest name of all 
is Origen —a man remarkable alike for penetration of genius and perse- 
vering labor; from whose numerous works and his great Hexapla almost 
all have drawn who came after him. Others who have widened the field 
of this science may also be named as especially eminent; thus, Alexan- 
dria could boast of St. Clement and St. Cyril; Palestine, of Eusebius and 
the other St. Cyril; Cappadocia, of St. Basil the Great and the two 
Gregories, of Nazianzus and Nyssa; Antioch, of St. John Chrysostom, in 
whom the science of Scripture was rivaled by the splendor of his elo- 
quence. In the Western Church there are as many names as great: Ter- 
tullian, St. Cyprian, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Leo the Great, St. Greg- 
ory the Great; most famous of all, St. Augustine and St. Jerome, of 
whom the former was so marvelously acute in penetrating the sense of 
God’s Word and so fertile in the use that he made of it for the promotion 
of the Catholic truth, and the latter has received from the Church, by 
reason of his pre-eminent knowledge of Scripture and his labors in pro- 
moting its use, the name of the “ great Doctor.” * 


B. In the Middle Ages 


From this period down to the eleventh century, although biblical 
studies did not flourish with the same vigor and the same fruitfulness as 
before, yet they did flourish, and principally by the instrumentality of 
the clergy. It was their care and solicitude that selected the best and 
most useful things that the ancients had left, arranged them in order, 
and published theni with additions of their own—as did St. Isidore of 
Seville, Venerable Bede, and Alcuin, among the most prominent; it 
was they who illustrated the sacred pages with “ glosses” or short 
commentaries, as we see in Walafrid Strabo and St. Anselm of Laon, 
or expended fresh labor in securing their integrity, as did St. Peter 
Damian and Blessed Lanfranc. In the twelfth century many took up, 
with great success, the allegorical exposition of Scripture. In this kind, 
St. Bernard is pre-eminent; and his writings, it may be said, are Serip- 
ture all through. With the age of the scholastics came fresh and wel- 
come progress in the study of the Bible. That the scholastics were 
solicitous about the genuineness of the Latin version is evident from the 
Correctoria Biblica, or list of emendations, which they have left. But 
they expended their labors and industry chiefly on interpretation and 
explanation. To them we owe the accurate and clear distinction, such 
as had not been given before, of the various senses of the sacred words; 
the assignment of the value of each “sense” in theology; the division 
of books into parts, and the summaries of the various parts; the inves- 
tigation of the objects of the writers; the demonstration of the con- 
nection of sentence with sentence, and clause with clause; all of which 
is calculated to throw much light on the more obscure passages of the 
sacred volume. The valuable work of the scholastics in Holy Scripture 
is seen in their theological treatises and in their Scripture commen- 


1 See the Collect on his feast, September 30, 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 165 


taries; and in this respect the greatest name among them all is St. 
Thomas Aquinas. 

When Our predecessor, Clement V, established chairs of Oriental 
literature in the Roman College and in the principal universities of 
Kurope, Catholics began to make more accurate investigation on the 
original text of the Bible as well as on the Latin version. The revival 
amongst us of Greek learning, and, much more, the happy invention of 
the art of printing, gave a strong impetus to biblical studies. In a brief 
space of time, innumerable editions, especially of the Vulgate, poured 
from the press and were diffused throughout the Catholic world; so 
honored and loved was Holy Scripture during that very period against 
which the enemies of the Church direct their calumnies, 


C. In Modern Times 


Nor must we forget how many learned men there were, chiefly among 
the religious orders, who did excellent work for the Bible between the 
Council of Vienna and that of Trent; men who, by the employment of 
modern means and appliances, and by the tribute of their own genius 
and learning, not only added to the rich store of ancient times but pre- 
pared the way for the succeeding century, the century which followed 
the Council of Trent, when it almost seemed that the great age of the 
Fathers had returned. For it is well known, and We recall it with 
pleasure, that Our predecessors, from Pius IV to Clement VIII, caused 
to be prepared the celebrated editions of the Vulgate and the Septua- 
gint, which, having been published by the command and authority of 
Sixtus V, and of the same Clement, are now in common use. At this 
time, moreover, were carefully brought out various other ancient ver- 
sions of the Bible, and the Polyglots of Antwerp and of Paris, most im- 
portant for the investigation of the true meaning of the text; nor is 
there any one book of either Testament which did not find more than 
one expositor, nor any grave question which did not profitably exercise 
the ability of many inquirers, among whom there are not a few — more 
especially of those who made most use of the Fathers— who have ac- 
quired great reputation. From that time downwards the labor and 
solicitude of Catholics have never been wanting; for, as time went on, 
eminent scholars have carried on biblical studies with success, and have 
defended Holy Scripture against rationalism with the same weapons of 
philology and kindred sciences with which it had been attacked. The 
calm and fair consideration of what has been said will clearly show that 
the Church has never failed in taking due measures to bring the Scrip- 
tures within reach of her children, and that she has ever held fast and 
exercised profitably that guardianship conferred upon her by Almighty 
_ God for the protection and glory of His Holy Word; so that she has 
never required, nor does she now require, any stimulation from without. 


RULES FOR THE PRESENT TIME 


We must now, Venerable Brethren, as Our purpose demands, impart 
to you such counsels as seem best suited for carrying on successfully 
the study of biblical science, 


166 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


But first it must be clearly understood whom we have to oppose and 
contend against, and what are their tactics and their arms. In earlier 
times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on private judg- 
ment and repudiating the divine traditions and teaching office of the 
Church, held the Scriptures to be the one source of revelation and the 
final appeal in matters of faith. Now we have to meet the rationalists, 
true children and inheritors of the older heretics, who, trusting in their 
turn to their own way of thinking, have rejected even the scraps and 
remnants of Christian belief which had been handed down to them. 
They deny that there is any such thing as revelation or inspiration, or 
Holy Scripture at all; they see, instead, only the forgeries and false- 
hoods of men; they set down the Scripture narratives as stupid fables 
and lying stories: the prophecies and oracles of God are to them either 
predictions made up after the event or forecasts formed by the light of 
nature; the miracles and wonders of God’s power are not what they are 
said to be, but the startling effects of natural law, or else mere tricks 
and myths; and the apostolic Gospels and writings are not the work of 
the apostles at all. These detestable errors, whereby they think they de- 
stroy the truth of the divine books, are obtruded on the world as the 
peremptory pronouncements of a newly invented free science; a science, 
however, which is so far from final that they are perpetually modifying 
and supplementing it. And there are some of them who, notwithstand- 
ing their impious opinions and utterances about God, and Christ, the 
Gospels and the rest of Holy Scripture, would fain be considered both 
theologians and Christians and men of the Gospel, and who attempt to 
disguise by such honorable names their rashness and their pride. To 
them we must add not a few professors of other sciences who approve 
their views and give them assistance, and are urged to attack the Bible 
by a similar intolerance of revelation. And it is deplorable to see these 
attacks growing every day more numerous and more severe. It is some- 
times men of learning and judgment who are assailed; but these have 
little difficulty in defending themselves from evil consequences. The 
efforts and arts of the enemy are chiefly directed against the more igno- 
rant masses of the people. They diffuse their deadly poison by means of 
books, pamphlets, and newspapers; they spread it by addresses and by 
conversation; they are found everywhere; and they are in possession 
of numerous schools, taken by violence from the Church, in which, by 
ridicule and scurrilous jesting, they pervert the credulous and unformed 
minds of the young to the contempt of Holy Scripture. Should not these 
things, Venerable Brethren, stir up and set on fire the heart of every 
pastor, so that to this knowledge, falsely so-called,» may be opposed the 
ancient and true science which the Church, through the apostles, has 
received from Christ, and that Holy Scripture may find the champions 
that are needed in so momentous a battle? 

Let our first care, then, be to see that in seminaries and academical 
institutions the study of Holy Scripture is placed on such a footing as. 
its own importance and the circumstances of the time demand. With 
this view, the first thing which requires attention is the wise choice of 
professors. Teachers of sacred Scripture are not to be appointed at hap- 


APM bike hide odie 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 167 


hazard out of the crowd; but they must be men whose character and 
fitness are proved by their love of, and their long familiarity with, the 
Bible, and by suitable learning and study. 

It is a matter of equal importance to provide in time for a continuous 
succession of such teachers; and it will be well, wherever this can be 
done, to select young men of good promise who have successfully accom- 
plished their theological course, and to set them apart exclusively for 
Holy Scripture, affording them facilities for full and complete studies. 
Professors thus chosen and thus prepared may enter with confidence on 
the task that is appointed for them; and that they may carry out their 
work well and profitably, let them take heed to the instructions We now 
proceed to give. 


INTRODUCTION 


At the commencement of a course of Holy Scripture, let the professor 
strive earnestly to form the judgment of the young beginners so as to 
train them equally to defend the sacred writings and to penetrate their 
meaning. This is the object of the treatise which is called “ Introduc- 
tion.” Here the student is taught how to prove the integrity and author- 
ity of the Bible, how to investigate and ascertain its true sense, and how 
to meet and refute objections. It is needless to insist upon the impor- 
tance of making these preliminary studies in an orderly and thorough 
fashion, with the accompaniment and assistance of theology; for the 
whole subsequent course must rest on the foundation thus laid and make 
use of the light thus acquired. 


INTERPRETATION 


Next, the teacher will turn his attention to that more fruitful division 
of Scripture science which has to do with interpretation, wherein is im- 
parted the method of using the Word of God for the advantage of reli- 
gion and piety. We recognize, without hesitation, that neither the extent 
of the matter nor the time at disposal allows each single book of the 
Bible to be separately gone through. But the teaching should result in 
a definite and ascertained method of interpretation — and, therefore, the 
professor should equally avoid the mistake of giving a mere taste of 
every book, and of dwelling at too great a length on a part of one book. 
If most schools cannot do what is done in large institutions — take the 
students through the whole of one or two books continuously and with 
a certain development — yet at least those parts which are selected 
should be treated with suitable fullness, in such a way that the students 
may learn from the sample that is put before them to love and use the 
remainder of the sacred book during the whole of their lives. The pro- 
fessor, following the tradition of antiquity, will make use of the Vulgate 
as his text; for the Council of Trent decreed that “in public lectures, 
disputations, preaching, and exposition,”* the Vulgate is the “ authen- 
tic” version; and this is the existing custom of the Church. At the 
same time, the other versions, which Christian antiquity has approved, 
should not be neglected, more especially the more ancient MSS. _ For, 





1 Sess. iv. decr. de edit. et usu sacr. libror. 


168 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


although the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek is substantially rendered 
by the Vulgate, nevertheless wherever there may be ambiguity or want of 
clearness, the “examination of older tongues,’* to quote St. Augustine, 
will be useful and advantageous. But in this matter we need hardly say 
that the greatest prudence is required, for the “ office of a commentator,” 
as St. Jerome says, “‘is to set forth not what he himself would prefer but 
what his author says.”* The question of “reading” having been, when 
necessary, carefully discussed, the next thing is to investigate and ex- 
pound the meaning. And the first counsel to be given is this: that the 
more our adversaries contend to the contrary, so much the more solici- 
tously should we adhere to the received and approved canons of inter- 
pretation. Hence, whilst weighing the meaning of words, the connec- 
tion of ideas, the parallelism of passages, and the like, we should by all 
means make use of such illustrations as can be drawn from opposite 
erudition of an external sort; but this should be done with caution, so 
as not to bestow on questions of this kind more labor and time than are 
spent on the sacred books themselves, and not to overload the minds of 
the students with a mass of information that will be rather a hindrance 
than a help. 

The professor may now safely pass on to the use of Scripture in mat- 
ters of theology. On this head it must be observed that, in addition to 
the usual reasons which make ancient writings more or less difficult to 
understand, there are some which are peculiar to the Bible. For the 
language of the Bible is employed to express, under the inspiration of 
the Holy Ghost, many things which are beyond the power and scope of 
the reason of man—that is to say, divine mysteries and all that is 
related to them. There is sometimes in such passages a fullness and a 
hidden depth of meaning which the letter hardly expresses and which 
the laws of interpretation hardly warrant. Moreover, the literal sense 
itself frequently admits other senses, adapted to illustrate dogma or to 
confirm morality. 


SENSUS, QUEM TENET ECCLESIA 


Wherefore, it must be recognized that the sacred writings are wrapped 
in a certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into their 
interior without a guide; * God so disposing, as the holy Fathers com- 
monly teach, in order that men may investigate them with greater ardor 
and earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink 
more deeply into the mind and heart, and, most of all, that they may 
understand that God has delivered the Holy Scripture to the Church, 
and that in reading and making use of His Word they must follow the 
Church as their guide and their teacher. St. Irenzus long since laid 
down that where the chrismata of God were, there the truth was to be 
learned, and the Holy Scripture was safely interpreted by those who 
had the apostolic succession.* His teaching and that of other holy 


De doctr. chr. iii. 4. 

Ad Pammachium. 

S. Hier. ad Paulin. de studio Script. ep. liii. 4. 
Cheer. iv. 26,75. 


ut 
2 
3 
4 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 169 


Fathers is taken up by the Council of the Vatican, which in renewing 
the decree of Trent declared its “mind” to be this—that “in things of 
faith and morals, belonging to the building up of Christian doctrine, 
that it is to be considered the true sense of Holy Scripture, which has 
been held and is held by our Holy Mother the Church, whose place it is 
to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; and, 
therefore, that it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture 
against such sense or also against the unanimous agreement of the 
Fathers.” * 


No RESTRAINT 


By this most wise decree the Church by no means prevents or restrains 
the pursuit of biblical science, but rather protects it from error, and 
largely assists its real progress. A wide field is still left open to the 
private student, in which his hermeneutical skill may display itself with 
signal effect and to the advantage of the Church. On the one hand, in 
those passages of Holy Scripture which have not as yet received a certain 
and definite interpetation, such labors may, in the benignant providence 
of God, prepare for and bring to maturity the judgment of the Church; 
on the other, in passages already defined, the private student may do 
work equally valuable, either by setting them forth more clearly to the 
flock or more skillfully to the scholars, or by defending them more power- 
fully from hostile attack. Wherefore the first and dearest object of the 
Catholic commentator should be to interpret those passages which have 
received an authentic interpretation either from the sacred writers them- 
selves, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the 
New Testament), or from the Church, under the assistance of the same 
Holy Spirit, whether by her solemn judgment or by her ordinary and 
universal magisterium *—to interpret these passages in that identical 
sense, and to prove by all the resources of science that sound hermeneu- 
tical laws admit of no other interpretation. In the other passages the 
analogy of faith should be followed, and Catholic doctrine, as authorita- 
tively proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme law; for, 
seeing that the same God is the author both of the sacred books and of 
the doctrine committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any 
teaching can, by legitimate means, be extracted from the former which 
shall, in any respect, be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows 
that all interpretation is foolish or false which either makes the sacred 
writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the 
Church. 


COMMENTARIES OF THE FATHERS 


The professor of Holy Scripture, therefore, amongst other recommen- 
dations, must be well acquainted with the whole circle of theology and 
deeply read in the commentaries of the holy Fathers and Doctors, and in 
other interpreters of mark.* This is incuicated by St. Jerome, and still 


1 Sess. iii. cap. ii. de revel.; cf. Conc. Trid. sess. iv. decret de edit. 
et usu sacr. libror. 

2 Cone. Vat. sess. ili. cap. ii. de fide. 

3 Thid, 


170 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


more frequently by St. Augustine, who thus justly complains: “If there 
is no branch of teaching, however humble and easy to learn, which does 
not require a master, what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride 
than to refuse to study the books of the divine mysteries by the help of 
those who have interpreted them?”* The other Fathers have said the 
same, and have confirmed it by their example, for they “endeavored to 
acquire the understanding of the Holy Scriptures not by their own lights 
and ideas but from the writing and authority of the ancients, who, in 
their turn, as we know, received the rule of interpretation in direct line 
from the apostles.”* The holy Fathers ‘‘ to whom, after the apostles, 
the Church owes its growth—who have planted, watered, built, gov- 
erned, and cherished it”;* the holy Fathers, We say, are of supreme 
authority, whenever they all interpret in one and the same manner any 
text of the Bible, as pertaining to the doctrine of faith and morals; for 
their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has come down 
from the apostles as a matter of Catholic faith. The opinion of the 
Fathers is also of very great weight when they treat of these matters 
in their capacity of Doctors unofficially; not only because they excel in 
their knowledge of revealed doctrine and in their acquaintance with 
many things which are useful in understanding the apostolic books, but 
because they are men of eminent sanctity and of ardent zeal for the 
truth, on whom God has bestowed a more ample measure of His light. 
Wherefore the expositor should make it his duty to follow their foot- 
steps with all reverence, and to use their labors with intelligent 
appreciation. 

But he must not on that account consider that it is forbidden, when 
just cause exists, to push inquiry and exposition beyond what the 
Fathers have done; provided he carefully observes the rule so wisely 
laid down by St. Augustne — not to depart from the literal and obvious 
sense, except only where reason makes it untenable or necessity re- 
quires; * a rule to which it is the more necessary to adhere strictly in 
these times, when the thirst for novelty and the unrestrained freedom of 
thought make the danger of error most real and proximate. Neither 
should those passages be neglected which the Fathers have understood 
in an allegorical or figurative sense, more especially when such interpre- 
tation is justified by the literal, and when it rests on the authority of 
many. For this method of interpretation has been received by the 
Church from the apostles, and has been approved by her own practice, 
as the holy Liturgy attests; although it is true that the holy Fathers 
did not thereby pretend directly to demonstrate dogmas of faith, but 
used it as a means of promoting virtue and piety, such as, by their own 
experience, they knew to be most valuable. 


OTHER INTERPRETERS 


The authority of other Church interpreters is not so great; but the 
study of Scripture has always continued to advance in the Church, and, 
therefore, these commentaries also have their own honorable place, and 


1 Ad Honorat. de util. cred. xvii. 35. * S. Aug. ¢. Julian. ii. 10, 37. 
* Rufinus Hist. ecel. li. 9. * De Gen. ad litt. lviii. c. 7, 13. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 171 


are serviceable in many ways for the refutation of assailants and the 
explanation of difficulties. But it is most unbecoming to pass by, in 
ignorance or contempt, the excellent work which Catholics have left in 
abundance, and to have recourse to the work of non-Catholics — and to 
seek in them, to the detriment of sound doctrine and often to the peril 
of faith, the explanation of passages on which Catholics long ago have 
successfully employed their talent and their labor. For although the 
studies of non-Catholics, used with prudence, may sometimes be of use to 
the Catholie student, he should, nevertheless, bear well in mind —as the 
Fathers also teach in numerous passages *— that the sense of Holy Scrip- 
ture can nowhere be found incorrupt outside the Church, and cannot be 
expected to be found in writers who, being without the true faith, only 
know the bark of sacred Scripture, and never attain its pith. 


THE PLACE OF SCRIPTURE RESEARCH AMONG THEOLOGICAL STUDIES 


Most desirable is it, and most essential, that the whole teaching of 
theology should be pervaded and animated by the use of the divine Word 
of God. That is what the Fathers and the greatest theologians of all 
ages have desired and reduced to practice. It is chiefly out of the sacred 
writings that they endeavored to proclaim and establish the Articles of 
Faith and the truths therewith connected, and it was in them, together 
with divine tradition, that they found the refutation of heretical error, 
and the reasonableness, the true meaning, and the mutual relation of 
the truths of Catholicism. Nor will any one wonder at this who con- 
siders that the sacred books hold such an eminent position among the 
sources of revelation that without their assiduous study and use theol- 
ogy cannot be placed on a true footing, or treated as its dignity de- 
mands. For although it is right and proper that students in academies 
and schools should be chiefly exercised in acquiring a scientific knowl- 
edge of dogma, by means of reasoning from the Articles of Faith to their 
consequences, according to the rules of approved and sound philosophy — 
nevertheless the judicious and instructed theologian will by no means 
pass by that method of doctrinal demonstration which draws its proof 
from the authority of the Bible; “‘ for theology does not receive her first 
principles from any other science, but immediately from God by revela- 
tion. And, therefore, she does not receive of other sciences as from a 
superior, but uses them as her inferiors or handmaids.”? It is this 
view of doctrinal teaching which is laid down and recommended by the 
prince of theologians, St. Thomas of Aquin;* who moreover shows — 
such being the essential character of Christian theology — how she can 
defend her own principles against attack: “If the adversary,” he says, 
“do but grant any portion of the divine revelation, we have an argu- 
ment against him; thus, against a heretic we can employ Scripture 
authority, and against those who deny one article we can use another. 


1 Cfr. Clem. Alex. Strom. vii. 16; Orig. de prine. iv. 8; in Levit. hom. 
48; Tertull. de prescr. 15, seqq.; S. Hilar. Pict. in Matt. 13, 1. 

2S. Greg. M. Moral. xx. 9 (al. 11). 

‘Summ. Cheol: p,/i. q./1, a. 5° ad. 2. 


172 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


But if our opponent reject divine revelation entirely, there is no way 
left to prove the Articles of Faith by reasoning; we can only solve the 
difficulties which are raised against them.”* Care must be taken, then, 
that beginners approach the study of the Bible well prepared and fur- 
nished; otherwise, just hopes will be frustrated, or, perchance, what is 
worse, they will unthinkingly risk the danger of error, falling an easy 
prey to the sophisms and labored erudition of the rationalists. The best 
preparation will be a conscientious application to philosophy and the- 
ology under the guidance of St. Thomas of Aquin, and a thorough train- 
ing therein— as We Ourselves have elsewhere pointed out and directed. 
By this means, both in biblical studies and in that part of theology 
which is called positive, they will pursue the right path and make satis- 
factory progress. 


AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 


To prove, to expound, to illustrate Catholic doctrine by the legitimate 
and skillful interpretation of the Bible is much; but there is a second 
part of the subject of equal importance and equal difficulty — the main- 
tenance in the strongest possible way of its full authority. This cannot 
be done completely or satisfactorily except by means of the living and 
proper magisterium of the Church. The Church, by reason of her won- 
derful propagation, her distinguished sanctity, and inexhaustible fecun- 
dity in good, her Catholic unity, and her unshaken stability, is herself 
a great and perpetual motive of credibility, and an unassailable testi- 
mony to her own divine mission.” ? But, since the divine and infallible 
magisterium of the Church rests also on Holy Scripture, the first thing 
to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of sacred records, at least 
as human documents, from which can be clearly proved, as from primi- 
tive and authentic testimony, the divinity and the mission of Christ our 
Lord, the institution of a hierarchical Church and the primacy of Peter 
and his successors. 


DEFENDERS OF THE BIBLE 


It is most desirable, therefore, that there should be numerous mem- 
bers of the clergy well prepared to enter on a contest of this nature, and 
to repulse hostile assaults, chiefly trusting in the armor of God recom- 
mended by the Apostle,’ but also not unaccustomed to modern methods 
of attack. This is beautifully alluded to by St. John Chrysostom, when 
describing the duties of priests: “‘ We must use every endeavor that the 
‘Word of God may dwell in us abundantly’; * not merely for one kind 
of a fight must we be prepared — for the contest is many-sided and the 
enemy is of every sort; and they do not all use the same weapons nor 
make their onset in the same way. Wherefore it is needful that the 
man who has to contend against all should be acquainted with the en- 
gines and the arts of all—that he should be at once archer and slinger, 
commandant and officer, general and private soldier, foot-soldier and 
horseman, skilled in sea-fight and in siege; for unless he knows every 


*Pibidaa.:5, 8 Eph. vi. 13, seqq. 
2 Cone. Vat. sess. iii. c. ii. de fide. +. Ofr, Coloss, iii. 16. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 173 


trick and turn of war, the devil is well able, if only a single door be left 
open, to get in his fierce bands and carry off the sheep.”* The sophisms 
of the enemy and his manifold arts of attack we have already touched 
upon. Let us now say a word of advice on the means of defense. 


MEANS OF DEFENSE 
A. Ancient Languages 


The first means is the study of the Oriental languages and of the art 
of criticism. These two acquirements are in these days held in high 
estimation, and, therefore, the clergy, by making themselves fully ac- 
quainted with them as time and place may demand, will the better be 
able to discharge their office with becoming credit; for they must make 
themselves all to all,? always ready to satisfy every one that asketh them 
a reason for the hope that is in them? Hence it is most proper that pro- 
fessors of sacred Scripture and theologians should master those tongues 
in which the sacred books were originally written; and it would be well 
that Church students also should cultivate them, more especially those 
who aspire to academic degrees. And endeavors should be made to estab- 
lish in all academic institutions — as has already been laudably done in 
many — chairs of the other ancient languages, especially the Semitic, 
and of subjects connected therewith, for the benefit, principally, of those 
who are intended to profess sacred literature. 


B. Criticism 


These latter, with a similar object in view, should make themselves 
well and thoroughly acquainted with the art of true criticism. There 
has arisen, to the great detriment of religion, an inept method, dignified 
by the name of the “higher criticism,” which pretends to judge the 
origin, integrity and authority of each book from internal indications 
alone. It is clear, on the other hand, that in historical questions, such as 
the origin and handing down of writings, the witness of history is of 
primary importance, and that historical investigation should be made 
with the utmost care; and that in this manner internal evidence is sel- 
dom of great value, except as confirmation. To look upon it in any other 
light will be to open the door to many evil consequences. It will make 
the enemies of religion much more bold and confident in attacking and 
mangling the sacred books; and this vaunted “ higher criticism” will 
resolve itself into the refiection of the bias and the prejudice of the 
critics. It will not throw on the Scripture the light which is sought, or 
prove of any advantage to doctrine; it will only give rise to disagree- 
ment and dissension, those sure notes of error which the critics in ques- 
tion so plentifully exhibit in their own persons; and seeing that most of 
them are tainted with false philosophy and rationalism, it must lead to 
the elimination from the sacred writings of all prophecy and miracle, 
and of everything else that is outside the natural order. 


1 De Sacerdotio iv. 4. SeleCormixace, 8 IT Peter iii. 15. 


174 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


C. Natural Sciences 


In the second place, we have to contend against those who, making an 
evil use of physical science, minutely scrutinize the sacred book in order 
to detect the writers in a mistake, and to take occasion to vilify its con- 
tents. Attacks of this kind, bearing as they do on matters of sensible 
experience, are peculiarly dangerous to the masses, and also to the young 
who are beginning their literary studies; for the young, if they lose their. 
reverence for the Holy Scripture on one or more points, are easily led to 
give up believing in it altogether. It need not be pointed out how the 
nature of science, just as it is so admirably adapted to show forth the 
glory of the Great Creator, provided it is taught as it should be, may, 
if it be perversely imparted to the youthful intelligence, prove most 
fatal in destroying the principles of true philosophy and in the corrup- 
tion of morality. Hence, to the professor of Sacred Scripture a knowl- 
edge of natural science will be of very great assistance in detecting 
such attacks on the sacred books, and in refuting them. There can 
never, indeed, be any real discrepancy between the theologian and the 
physicist, as long as each confines himself within his own lines, and 
both are careful, as St. Augustine warns us, ‘‘not to make rash asser- 
tions, or to assert what is not known as known.”? If dissension should 
arise between them, here is the rule also laid down by St. Augustine, 
for the theologian: “ Whatever they can really demonstrate to be true 
of physical nature we must show to be capable of reconciliation with 
our Scriptures; and whatever they assert in their treatises which is 
contrary to these Scriptures of ours, that is to Catholic faith, we must 
either prove it as well as we can to be entirely false, or at all events 
we must, without the smallest hesitation, believe it to be so.”? To 
understand how just is the rule here formulated we must remember, first, 
that the sacred writers, or, to speak more accurately, the Holy Ghost 
“who spoke by them, did not intend to teach men these things [that is 
to say, the essential nature of the things of the visible universe], things 
in no way profitable unto salvation.” * Hence they did not seek to pene- 
trate the secrets of nature, but rather described and dealt with things in 
more or less figurative language, or in terms which were commonly used 
at the time, and which in many instances are in daily use at this day, 
even by the most eminent men of science. Ordinary speech primarily 
and properly describes what comes under the senses; and somewhat in 
the same way the sacred writers —as the Angelic Doctor also reminds 
us — ‘‘went by what sensibly appeared,’* or put down what God, 
speaking to men, signified, in the way men could understand and were 
accustomed to. 

The unshrinking defense of the Holy Scripture, however, does not 
require that we should equally uphold all the opinions which each of 
the Fathers or the more recent interpreters have put forth in explain- 


* In. Gen. op. imperf. ix. 30. 

2 De Gen. ad litt. i. 21, 41. 

® S. Aug. ib. ii. 9, 20. 

* Summa Theol. p. i. q. Ixxx. a. 1 ad 3. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 175 


ing it; for it may be that, in commenting on passages where physical 
matters occur, they have sometimes expressed the ideas of their own 
times, and thus made statements which in these days have been aban- 
doned as incorrect. Hence, in their interpretations, we must carefully 
note what they lay down as belonging to faith, or as intimately con- 
nected with faith—what they are unanimous in. For “in those things 
which do not come under the obligation of faith, the saints were at 
liberty to hold divergent opinions, just as we ourselves are,”’! according 
to the saying of St. Thomas. And in another place he says most ad- 
mirably: ‘‘ When philosophers are agreed upon a point, and it is not 
contrary to our faith, it is safer, in my opinion, neither to lay down 
such a point as a dogma of faith, even though it is perhaps so pre- 
sented by the philosophers, nor to reject it as against faith, lest we thus 
give to the wise of this world an occasion of despising our faith.”* The 
Catholie interpreter, although he should show that those facts of natu- 
ral science which investigators affirm to be now quite certain are not 
contrary to the Scripture rightly explained, must, nevertheless, always 
bear in mind that much which has been held and proved as certain has 
afterwards been called in question and rejected. And if writers on 
physics travel outside the boundaries of their own branch, and carry 
their erroneous teaching into the domain of philosophy, let them be 
handed over to philosophers for refutation. 


D. History 


The principles here laid down will apply to cognate sciences, and es- 
pecially to history. It is a lamentable fact that there are many who 
with great labor carry out and publish investigations on the monuments 
of antiquity, the manners and institutions of nations, and other illus- 
trative subjects, and whose chief purpose in all this is to find mistakes 
in the sacred writings and so to shake and weaken their authority. 
Some of these writers display not only extreme hostility but the greatest 
unfairness; in their eyes a profane book or ancient document is ac- 
cepted without hesitation, whilst the Scripture, if they only find in it a 
suspicion of error, is set down with the slightest possible discussion as 
quite untrustworthy. It is true, no doubt, that copyists have made mis- 
takes in the text of the Bible; this question, when it arises, should be 
carefully considered on its merits, and the fact not too easily admitted, 
but only in those passages where the proof is clear. It may also happen 
that the sense of a passage remains ambiguous, and in this case good 
hermeneutical methods will greatly assist in clearing up the obscurity. 


INSPIRATION 


But it is absolutely wrong and forbidden either to narrow inspiration 
to certain parts only of Holy Scripture or to admit that the sacred 
writer has erred. For the system of those who, in order to rid them- 
selves of those difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that divine in- 
spiration regards the things of faith and morals, and nothing beyond, 


1 In Sent. ii. Dist. q. 1. a. 3. 2,OpUusc.) x: 


176 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


because (as they wrongly think) in a question of the truth or falsehood 
of a passage we should consider not so much what God has said as the 
reason and purpose which He had in mind when saying it — this system 
cannot be tolerated. For all the books which the Church receives as 
sacred and canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their 
parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost; and so far is it from being 
possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, that inspiration 
not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects 
it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the 
Supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient 
and unchanging faith of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of 
Florence and of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formu- 
lated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the words of the last: 
“The books of the Old and New Testament, whole and entire, with all 
their parts, as enumerated by the decree of the same Council (Trent) 
and in the ancient Latin Vulgate, are to be received as sacred and canon- 
ical. And the Chureh holds them.as sacred and canonical not because, 
having been composed by human industry, they were afterwards ap- 
proved by her authority, nor only because they contain revelation without 
error, but because, having been written under the inspiration of the 
Holy Ghost, they have God for their Author.”* Hence, because the Holy 
Ghost employed men as His instruments, we cannot, therefore, say that 
it was these inspired instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error, 
and not the primary author. For, by supernatural power, He so moved 
and impelled them to write— He was so present to them —that the 
things which He ordered, and those only, they, first, rightly understood, 
then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words 
and with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was 
the Author of the entire Scripture. Such has always been the persuasion 
of the Fathers. “Therefore,” says St. Augustine, “since they wrote 
the things which He showed and uttered to them, it cannot be pretended 
that He is not the writer; for His members executed what their head 
dictated.”? And St. Gregory the Great thus pronounces: “ Most super- 
fluous it is to inquire who wrote these things — we loyally believe the 
Holy Ghost to be the author of the Book. He wrote it who dictated it 
for writing; He wrote it who inspired its execution.” ° 

It follows that those who maintain that an error is possible in any 
genuine passage of the sacred writings either pervert the Catholic notion 
of inspiration or make God the author of such error. And so emphati- 
cally were all the Fathers and Doctors agreed that the divine writings, 
as left by the hagiographers, are free from all error, that they labored 
earnestly, with no less skill than reverence, to reconcile with each other 
those numerous passages which seem at variance—the very passages 
which in a great measure have been taken up by the “ higher criticism ” ; 
for they were unanimous in laying it down that those writings, in their 
entirety and in all their parts were equally from the afflatus of Almighty 
God, and that God, speaking by the sacred writers, could not set down 
anything that was not true. The words of St. Augustine to St. Jerome 





1 Sess. iii. c. ii. de Rev. 
* De consensu Evangel. |. 1, ¢. 35. ® Pref. in Job, n. 2. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 177 


may sum up what they taught: “On my own part I confess to your 
charity that it is only to those books of Scripture which are now called 
canonical that I have learned to pay such honor and reverence as to 
believe most firmly that none of their writers has fallen into any error. 
And if in these books I meet anything which seems contrary to truth 
I shall not hesitate to conclude either that the text is faulty, or that the 
translator has not expressed the meaning of the passage, or that I myself 
do not understand.” * 


CATHOLIC SCHOLARS 


But to undertake fully and perfectly, and with all the weapons of the 
best science, the defense of the Holy Bible is far more than can be looked 
for from the exertions of commentators and theologians alone. It is an 
enterprise in which we have a right to expect the co-operation of all 
those Catholics who have acquired reputation in any branch of learning 
whatever. As in the past, so at the present time, the Church is never 
without the graceful support of her accomplished children; may their 
service to the Faith grow and increase! For there is nothing which We 
believe to be more needful than that truth should find defenders more 
powerful and more numerous than the enemies it has to face; nor is 
there anything which is better calculated to impress the masses with 
respect for truth than to see it boldly proclaimed by learned and distin- 
guished men. Moreover, the bitter tongues of objectors will be silenced, 
or at least they will not dare to insist so shamelessly that faith is the 
eneiny of science, when they see that scientific men of eminence in their 
profession show towards faith the most marked honor and respect. See- 
ing, then, that those can do so much for the advantage of religion on 
whom the goodness of Almighty God has bestowed, together with the 
grace of the faith, great natural talent, let such men, in this bitter con- 
flict of which the Holy Scripture is the object, select each of them the 
branch of study most suitable to his circumstances, and endeavor to 
excel therein, and thus be prepared to repulse with credit and distinction 
the assaults on the Word of God. And it is Our pleasing duty to give 
deserved praise to a work which certain Catholics have taken up — that 
is to say, the formation of societies and the contribution of considerable 
sums of money for the purpose of supplying studios and learned men with 
every kind of help and assistance in carrying out complete studies. 
Truly an excellent fashion of investing money, and well suited to the 
times in which we live! The less hope of public patronage there is for 
Catholic study, the more ready and the more abundant should be the 
liberality of private persons — those to whom God has given riches thus 
willingly making use of their means to safeguard the treasure of His 
revealed doctrine. 


CAUTION IN DOUBT 


In order that all these endeavors and exertions may really prove ad- 
vantageous to the cause of the Bible, let scholars keep steadfastly to the 
principles which We have in this Letter laid down. Let them loyally 


1 Ep. Ixxvii. 1, et crebrius alibi. 


178 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


hold that God, the Creator and Ruler of all things, is also the Author of 
the Scriptures —and that, therefore, nothing can be proved either by 
physical science or archeology which can really contradict the Scriptures. 
If, then, apparent contradiction be met with, every effort should be made 
to remove it. Judicious theologians and commentators should be con- 
sulted as to what is the true or most probable meaning of the passage in 
discussion, and hostile arguments should be carefully weighed. Even if 
the difficulty is after all not cleared up and the discrepancy seems to 
remain, the contest must not be abandoned; truth cannot contradict 
truth, and we may be sure that some mistake has been made either in 
the interpretation of the sacred words or in the polemical discussion 
itself; and if no such mistake can be detected, we must then suspend 
judgment for the time being. There have been objections without number 
perseveringly directed against the Scripture for many a long year, which 
have been proved to be futile and are now never heard of; and not in- 
frequently interpretations have been placed on certain passages of Scrip- 
ture (not belonging to the rule of faith or morals) which have been rec- 
tified by more careful investigations. As time goes on, mistaken views 
die and disappear; but truth remaineth and groweth stronger forever 
and ever... Wherefore, as no one should be so presumptuous as to think 
that he understands the whole of the Scripture, in which St. Augustine 
himself confessed that there was more that he did not know than that he 
knew,” so, if he should come on anything that seems incapable of solution, 
he must take to heart the cautious rule of the same holy doctor: “It is 
better even to be oppressed by unknown but useful signs than to inter- 
pret them uselessly, and thus to throw off the yoke only to be caught in 
the trap of error.” ® 

As to those who pursue the subsidiary studies of which We have 
spoken, if they honestly and modestly follow the counsels We have given 
—if by their pen and their voice they make their studies profitable 
against the enemies of truth, and useful in saving the young from the 
loss of their faith —they may justly congratulate themselves on their 
worthy service to the sacred writings, and on affording to Catholicism 
that assistance which the Church has a right to expect from the piety 
and learning of her children. 


CONCLUSION 


Such, Venerable Brethren, are the admonitions and the instructions 
which, by the help of God, We have thought it well, at the present mo- 
ment, to offer to you on the study of Holy Scripture. It will now be 
your province to see that what We have said be observed and put in 
practice with all due reverence and exactness; that so We may prove 
our gratitude to God for the communication to man of the words of His 
wisdom, and that all the good results so much to be desired may be real- 
ized, especially as they affect the training of the students of the Church, 
which is our own great solicitude and the Church’s hope. Exert your- 
selve with willing alacrity, and use your authority and your persuasion 


1 III Esdr. iv. 38. 
2 Ad Januar. ep. lv. 21. * De doctr. chr. iii. 9, 18. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE suey 


in order that these studies may be held in just regard and may flourish 
in seminaries and in educational institutions which are under your juris- 
diction. Let them flourish in completeness and in happy success, under 
the direction of the Church, in accordance with the salutary teaching 
and example of the holy Fathers, and the laudable traditions of anti- 
quity; and, as time goes on, let them be widened and extended as the 
interests and glory of truth may require — the interests of that Catholic 
truth which comes from above, the never-failing source of man’s salvation. 
Finally, We admonish with paternal love all students and ministers 
of the Church always to approach the sacred writings with reverence 
and piety; for it is impossible to attain to the profitable understand- 
ing thereof unless the arrogance of “earthly” science be laid aside, 
and there be excited in the heart the holy desire for that wisdom “ which 
is from above.” In this way the intelligence which is once admitted to 
these sacred studies, and thereby illuminated and strengthened, will ac- 
quire a marvelous facility in detecting and avoiding the fallacies of 
human science, and in gathering and using for eternal salvation all that 
is valuable and precious; whilst, at the same time, the heart will grow 
warm, and will strive, with ardent longing, to advance in virtue and in 
divine love. Blessed are they who examine His testimonies; they shall 
seek Him with their whole hearts 

And now, filled with hope in the divine assistance, and trusting to 
your pastoral solicitude—as a pledge of heavenly grace, and a sign of 
Our special good-will—to you all, and to the clergy, and to the whole 
flock intrusted to you, We lovingly impart in Our Lord the Apostolic 
Benediction. 


SYLLABUS OF ERRORS 
CONDEMNED BY THE S. ConGR. OF THE INQUISITION, JULY 3, 1907. 


ITH truly lamentable results, our age, intolerant of all check in 

its investigations of the ultimate causes of things, not unfre- 
quently follows what is new in such a way as to reject the legacy, as it 
were, of the human race, and thus fall into the most grievous errors. 
These errors will be all the more pernicious when they affect sacred dis- 
ciplines, the interpretation of the Sacred Scripture, the principal mys- 
teries of the faith. It is to be greatly deplored that among Catholics 
also not a few writers are to be found who, crossing the boundaries fixed 
by the Fathers and by the Church herself, seek out, on the plea of higher 
intelligence and in the name of historical considerations, that progress of 
dogmas which is in reality the corruption of the same. 

But lest errors of this kind, which are being daily spread among the 
faithful, should strike root in their minds and corrupt the purity of the 
faith, it has pleased His Holiness Pius X, by Divine Providence Pope, 
that the chief among them should be noted and condemned through the 
office of this Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition. 


1 Ps. exvili. 2. 


180 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Wherefore, after a most diligent investigation, and after having taken 
the opinion of the Reverend Consultors, the Most Eminent and Reverend 
Lords Cardinals, the general inquisitors in matters of faith and morals, 
decided that the following propositions are to be condemned and pro- 
scribed, as they are, by this general Decree, condemned and proscribed: 

1. The ecclesiastical law, which prescribes that books regarding the 
Divine Scriptures are subject to previous censorship, does not extend to 
critical scholars or students of the scientific exegesis of the Old and New 
Testament. 

2. The Church’s interpretation of the Sacred Books is not indeed to be 
condemned, but it is subject to the more accurate judgment and to the 
correction of the exegetes. 

3. From the ecclesiastical judgments and censures passed against free 
and more scientific (cultiorem) exegesis, it may be gathered that the 
faith proposed by the Church contradicts history and that the Catholic 
dogmas cannot be reconciled with the true origins of the Christian 
religion. ‘ 

4, The magisterium of the Church cannot, even through dogmatic defi- 
nitions, determine the genuine sense of the Sacred Scriptures. 

5. Since in the deposit of the faith only revealed truths are contained, 
under no respect does it appertain to the Church to pass judgment con- 
cerning the assertions of human sciences. 

6. In defining truths the Church learning (discens) and the Church 
teaching (docens) collaborate in such a way that it only remains for the 
Church docens to sanction the opinions of the Church discens. 

7. The Church, when it proscribes errors, cannot exact from the faith- 
ful any internal assent by which the judgments issued by it are embraced. 

8. Those who treat as of no weight the condemnations passed by the 
Sacred Congregation of the Index or by the other Roman Congregations 
are free from all blame. 

9. Those who believe that God is really the author of the Sacred Scrip- 
ture display excessive simplicity or ignorance. 

10. The inspiration of the books of the Old Testament consists in the 
fact that the Israelite writers have handed down religious doctrines 
under a peculiar aspect, either little or not at all known to the Gentiles. 

11. Divine inspiration is not to be so extended to the whole of Sacred 
Scriptures that it renders its parts, all and single, immune from all 
error. 

12. The exegete, if he wishes to apply himself usefully to Biblical 
studies, must first of all put aside all preconceived opinions concerning 
the supernatural origin of the Sacred Scripture, and interpret it not 
otherwise than other merely human documents. 

13. The evangelists themselves and the Christians of the second and 
third generation arranged (digesserunt) artificially the evangelical par- 
ables, and in this way gave an explanation of the scanty fruit of the 
preaching of Christ among the Jews. 

14, In a great many narrations the evangelists reported not so much 
things that are true as things which even though false they judged to be 
more profitable for their readers. 

15. The Gospels until the time the canon was defined and constituted 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 181 


were increased by additions and corrections; hence in them there re- 
mained of the doctrine of Christ only a faint and uncertain trace. 

16. The narrations of John are not properly history, but the mystical 
contemplation of the Gospel; the discourses contained in his Gospel are 
theological meditations, devoid of historical truth concerning the mys- 
tery of salvation. 

17. The Fourth Gospel exaggerated miracles not only that the won- 
derful might stand out but also that they might become more suitable 
for signifying the work and the glory of the Word Incarnate. 

I8. John claims for himself the quality of a witness concerning 
Christ; but‘in reality he is only a distinguished witness of the Chris- 
tian life, or of the life of Christ in the Church, at the close of the first 
century. 

19. Heterodox exegetes have expressed the true sense of the Scrip- 
tures more faithfully than Catholic exegetes. 

20. Revelation could be nothing but the consciousness acquired by 
man of his relation with God. 

21. Revelation, constituting the object of Catholic faith, was not com- 
pleted with the Apostles. 

22. The dogmas which the Church gives out as revealed, are not 
truths which have fallen down from heaven, but are an interpretation of 
religious facts, which the human mind has acquired by laborious effort. 

23. Opposition may and actually does exist between the facts which 
are narrated in Scripture and the dogmas of the Church which rest on 
them; so that the critic may reject as false facts which the Church holds 
as most certain. 

24. The exegete is not to be blamed for constructing premises from 
which it follows that the dogmas are historically false or doubtful, pro- 
vided he does not directly deny the dogmas themselves. 

25. The assent of faith rests ultimately on a mass of probabilities. 

26. The dogmas of faith are to be held only according to their prac- 
tical sense, that is, as preceptive norms of conduct, but not as norms of 
believing. 

27. The Divinity of Jesus Christ is not proved from the Gospels; but 
is a dogma which the Christian conscience has derived from the notion 
of the Messias. 

28. Jesus, while He was exercising His Ministry, did not speak with 
the object of teaching that He was the Messias, nor did His miracles tend 
to prove this. 

29. It is lawful to believe that the Christ of history is far inferior to 
the Christ who is the object of faith. 

30. In all the evangelical texts the name Son of God is equivalent 
only to Messias, and does not at all signify that Christ is the true and 
natural Son of God. 

31. The doctrine concerning Christ taught by Paul, John, the Coun-_ 
cils of Nicea, Ephesus and Chalcedon, is not that which Jesus taught, 
but that which the Christian conscience conceived concerning Jesus. 

32. It is not possible to reconcile the natural sense of the Gospel texts 
with the sense taught by our theologians concerning the conscience and 
the infallible knowledge of Jesus Christ. 


182 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


33. It is evident to everybody who is not led by preconceived opinions 
that either Jesus professed an error concerning the immediate Messianic 
coming, or that the greater part of His doctrine as contained in the 
Gospels is destitute of authenticity. 

34. The critic cannot ascribe to Christ a knowledge circumscribed by 
no limits except on a hypothesis which cannot be historically conceived 
and which is repugnant to the moral sense, viz., that Christ as man had 
the knowledge of God and yet was unwilling to communicate the knowl- 
edge of a great many things to His Disciples and to posterity. 

35, Christ had not always the consciousness of His Messianic dignity. 

36. The Resurrection of the Saviour is not properly a fact of the his- 
torical order, but a fact of merely supernatural order, neither demon- 
strated nor demonstrable, which the Christian conscience gradually de- 
rived from other facts. 

37. Faith in the Resurrection of Christ was in the beginning not so 
much in the fact itself of the Resurrection, as in the immortal life of 
Christ with God. 

38. The doctrine of the expiatory death of Christ is not Evangelical 
but Pauline. 

39. The opinions concerning the origin of the sacraments with which 
the Fathers of Trent were imbued and which certainly influenced their 
dogmatic canons are very different from those which now rightly obtain 
among historians who examine into Christianity. 

40. The sacraments had their origin in the fact that the Apostles and 
their successors, swayed and moved by circumstances and events, inter- 
preted some idea or intention of Christ. 

41. The sacraments are merely intended to bring before the mind of 
man the ever-beneficent presence of the Creator. 

42. The Christian community imposed (iuduait) the necessity of bap- 
tism, adopting it as a necessary rite, and adding to it the obligations 
of the Christian profession. 

43. The practice of conferring baptism on infants was a disciplinary 
evolution, which became one of the causes why the sacrament was divided 
into two, viz.: baptism and penance. 

44. There is nothing to prove that the rite of the sacrament of con- 
firmation was employed by the Apostles: but the formal distinction of 
the two sacraments, baptism and confirmation, does not belong to the 
history of primitive Christianity. 

45. Not everything which Paul narrates concerning the institution of 
the Eucharist (I Cor. xi. 23-25) is to be taken historically. , 

46. In the primitive Church the conception of the Christian sinner 
reconciled by the authority of the Church did not exist, but it was only 
very slowly that the Church accustomed itself to this conception. Nay, 
even after penance was recognized as an institution of the Church, it 
was not called a sacrament, for it would be held as an ignominious 
sacrament. 

47. The words of the Lord: Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins ye 
shall forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins ye shall retain they 
are retained (John xx. 22, 23) do not at all refer to the sacrament of 
penance, whatever the Fathers of Trent may have been pleased to say. 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 183 


48. James in his Epistle (v. 14 and 15) did not intend to promulgate 
a sacrament of Christ, but to commend a pious custom, and if in this 
custom he happens to distinguish (cernit) a means of grace, it is not in 
that rigorous manner in which it was received by the theologians who laid 
down the notion and the number of the sacraments. 

49. The Christian Supper gradually assuming the nature of a litur- 
gical action, those who were wont to preside at the Supper acquired the 
sacerdotal character. 

50. The elders who filled the office of watching over the gatherings of 
the faithful, were instituted by the Apostles as priests or bishops to pro- 
vide for the necessary ordering (ordinationi) of the increasing oppor- 
tunities, not properly for perpetuating the Apostolic mission and power. 

51. It is not possible that matrimony could have become a sacrament 
of the new Law until later in the Church; for in order that matrimony 
should be held as a sacrament it was necessary that a full theological 
development (explicatio) of the doctrine of grace and the sacraments 
should first take place. 

52. It was foreign to the mind of Christ to found a Church as a So- 
ciety which was to last on the earth for a long course of centuries; nay, 
in the mind of Christ the Kingdom of Heaven together with the end of 
the world was about to come immediately. 

53. The organic constitution of the Church is not immutable; but 
Christian society, like human society, is subject to perpetual evolution. 

54. Dogmas, sacraments, hierarchy, both as regards the notion of them 
and the reality, are but interpretations and evolutions of the Christian 
intelligence which by external increments have increased and perfected 
the little germ latent in the Gospel. 

55. Simon Peter never even suspected that the primacy in the Church 
was intrusted to him by Christ. 

56. The Roman Church became the head of all the churches not 
through the ordinance of Divine Providence but through merely political 
conditions. 

57. The Church has shown herself to be hostile to the progress of 
natural and theological sciences. 

58. Truth is not any more immutable than man himself, since it is 
evolved with him, in him, and through him. 

59. Christ did not teach a determinate body of doctrine applicable to 
all times and to all men, but rather inaugurated a religious movement 
adapted or to be adapted for different times and place. 

60. Christian doctrine in its origin was Judaic, but through succes- 
sive evolutions became first Pauline, then Joannine, and finally Hellenic 
and universal. 

61. It may be said without paradox that there is no chapter of Serip- 
ture, from the first of Genesis to the last of the Apocalypse, which con- 
tains a doctrine absolutely identical with that which the Church teaches 
on the same matter, and that, therefore, no chapter of Scripture has the 
same sense for the critic and for the theologian. 

62. The chief articles of the Apostolic Symbol had not for the Chris- 
tians of the first ages the same sense that they have for the Christians 
of our time, 


184 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


63. The Church shows itself unequal to the task of efficaciously main- 
taining evangelical ethics, because it obstinately adheres to immutable 
doctrines which cannot be reconciled with modern progress. 

64. The progress of science involves a remodeling (ut reformentur) 
of the conceptions of Christian doctrine concerning God, Creation, Rev- 
elation, the Person of the Incarnate Word, Redemption. 

65. Modern Catholicism cannot be reconciled with true science unless 
it be transformed into a non-dogmatic Christianity, that is into a broad 
and liberal Protestantism. 

And on the following Thursday, the fourth day of the same month 
and year, an accurate report of all this having been made to Our Most 
Holy Lord Pope Pius X, His Holiness approved and confirmed the De- 
eree of the Most Eminent Fathers, and ordered that the propositions 
above enumerated, all and several, be held by all as condemned and 
proscribed. 

PETER PALOMBELLI, 
‘ Notary of the H. R. U. I. 


FROM THE MOTU PROPRIO OF PIUS X 


ON THE DECISIONS OF THE BIBLICAL COMMISSION AND ON THE CEN- 
SURES AND PENALTIES AFFECTING THOSE WHO NEGLECT TO OBSERVE 
THE PRESCRIPTIONS AGAINST THE ERRORS OF THE MODERNISTS 


N his Encyclical Letter Providentissimus Deus, given on November 19, 
1893, our predecessor, Leo XIII, of immortal memory, after describ- 
ing the dignity of the Sacred Scripture and commending the study of it, 
set forth the laws which govern the proper study of the Holy Bible; 
and having proclaimed the divinity of these books against the errors and 
calumnies of the rationalists, he at the same time defended them against 
the false teachings of what is known as the higher criticism, which, as 
the Pontiff most wisely wrote, are clearly nothing but the commentaries 
of rationalism derived from a misuse of philology and kindred studies. 
Our predecessor, too, seeing that the danger was constantly on the in- 
crease, and desiring to provide against the consequences of the propa- 
gation of rash and erroneous views, by his Apostolic Letters Vigilantie 
studiuque memores, given on October 29, 1902, established a Pontifical 
Council, or Commission on Biblical Matters, composed of a number of 
cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, distinguished for their learning and 
prudence, adding to these, under the title of consultors, a considerable 
body of men in sacred orders, chosen from among the learned in theol- 
ogy and in the Holy Bible, of various nationalities and differing in their 
methods and views concerning exegetical studies. In this the Pontiff had 
in mind, as an advantage admirably adapted for the promotion of study 
and for the time in which we live, that in this commission there should 
be the fullest freedom for proposing, examining, and judging all opin- 
ions whatsoever; and the letter also ordained that the cardinals of the 
commission were not to come to any definite decision until they had 
taken cognizance of and examined the arguments on both sides, omitting 


HOLY SCRIPTURE 185 


nothing which might serve to show in the clearest light the true and 
genuine state of the Biblical questions proposed for solution; and when 
all this had been done, that the decisions reached should be submitted 
for approval to the Supreme Pontiff, and then promulgated. 

After mature examination and the most diligent consultations, cer- 
tain decisions have been happily given by the Pontifical Commission on 
the Bible, and these of a kind very useful for the proper promotion and 
direction on safe lines of Biblical studies. But we observe that some 
persons, unduly prone to opinions and methods tainted by pernicious 
novelties, and excessively devoted to that principle of false liberty, which 
is really immoderate license, and in sacred studies proves itself to be 
most insidious and a fruitful source of the worst evils against the purity 
of the faith, have not received and do not receive these decisions with 
the proper obedience. 

Wherefore we find it necessary to declare and prescribe, as we do now 
declare and expressly prescribe, that all are bound in conscience to sub- 
mit to the decisions of the Biblical Commission, which have been given 
in the past and which shall be given in the future, in the same way 
as to the Decrees which appertain to doctrine, issued by the Sacred 
Congregations approved by the Sovereign Pontiff; nor can those escape 
the stigma of disobedience and temerity, and consequently of grave 
guilt, who in speech or writing impugn these decisions; and this besides 
the scandal they give and the other reasons for which they may be 
responsible before God, for other temerities and errors usually accom- 
panying such opposition. 

Moreover to check the daily increasing audacity of a great many 
modernists who are endeavoring by all kinds of sophistry and devices to 
detract from the force and efficacy not only of the Decree Lamentabili 
sane exitu, issued, by our order, by the Holy Roman and Universal 
Inquisition of July 3 of the present year, but also of our Encyclical 
Letters Pascendi dominict gregis given on September 8 of this same year, 
we do by our Apostolic authority repeat and confirm both that Decree of 
the Supreme Sacred Congregation and those Encyclical Letters of Ours, 
adding the penalty of excommunication against contradictors; and this 
we declare and decree, that should anybody, which may God forbid, be 
so rash as to defend any one of the propositions, opinions or teachings 
condemned in these documents, he falls ipso facto under the censure con- 
tained under the Chapter Docentes of the Constitution Apostolice Sedis, 
which is first among the excommunications lat@w sententie simply re- 
served to the Roman Pontiff. This excommunication is to be understood 
as salvis penis, which may be incurred by those who have violated in any 
way the said documents, as propagators and defenders of heresies, when 
their propositions, opinions or teachings are heretical, as has happened 
aore than once in the case of the adversaries of both these documents, 
especially when they advocate the errors of modernism, that is the syn- 
thesis of all heresies. 

Wherefore, we again and most earnestly exhort the ordinaries of the 
lioceses and the heads of religious congregations to use the utmost vigi- 
jance over teachers, and first of all in the seminaries; and should they 
find any of them imbued with the errors of the modernists, and eager 


186 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


for what is new and noxious, or lacking in docility to the prescriptions 
of the Apostolic See, no matter how they may be published, let them ab- 
solutely forbid the teaching office to such; so, too, let them exclude from 
sacred orders those young men who give the very faintest reason for 
doubt that they hold the condemned doctrines and the pernicious novel- 
ties. We exhort them also to take diligent care to put an end to those 
books and other writings, now growing exceedingly numerous, which con- 
tain opinions or tendencies of the kind condemned in the Encyclical Let- 
ters and Decree above mentioned; let them see to it that these publica- 
tions are removed from Catholic publishing houses, and especially from 
the hands of students and the clergy. By doing this they will at the 
same time be promoting real and solid education, which should always 
be a subject of the greatest solicitude for those who exercise sacred 
authority. 

All these things we will and order to be sanctioned and established by 
our Apostolic authority, aught to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Given at Rome at St. Peter’s November 18, 1907, in the fifth year of 


our Pontificate. 
PLUS =X, PORE 


(For the decisions of the Biblical Commission see infra, pp. 481 sqq.) 


INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE 


1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 


ROM very early times the Holy Scriptures have been read, 
studied and expounded both by Jews and Christians, by 
Catholics and non-Catholics. The results of all their exertions 
are, however, very various and often in direct antagonism to one 
another. As it is impossible for two or more opinions to be 
correct at the same time, it follows that many mistakes have been 
made. 

Whoever desires not to err in studying the Scriptures must 
not separate them from the Church, but regard them as be- 
longing to the Church, and therefore he must recognize the 
following truths: 

1. Holy Scripture is God’s word. But as, in accordance 
with our Lord’s commission (Matt. xxviii. 19), it is the task 
of the Church to make known to men the whole of God’s reve- 
Jation, Scripture is the property of the Church. 

2. The Church has preserved Holy Scripture in its integrity 
and in all its parts free from falsification. 

3. The Church alone possesses the correct interpretation of 
Scripture. 

The statement and proof of the first two truths form the sub- 
ject of the historical and critical introduction to Holy Scripture, 
whereas the third is the foundation of Biblical Hermeneutics. 


Historical Survey 


What we call the historical and critical introduction to Holy 
Scripture is a product of recent times, and it has become an im- 
portant branch of knowledge only in the last hundred years 
or thereabouts. 

In early Christian times there was no particular reason for 
carrying on biblical study as we understand it. People believed 


188 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and accepted the living traditions, as they were still near the 
time when the sacred books were written. The heathen, too, did 
not, as a rule, meddle with the sacred books of the Christians. 
Celsus aimed his attacks upon their contents, i.e. upon the doc- 
trines of Christianity, and so did Lucian. Much valuable ma- 
terial for our present preliminary studies is scattered about in 
the works of the Fathers of the Church and of ecclesiastical 
writers, particularly in Origen (185-254), Eusebius of Caesarea 
(270-338), Saint Jerome (331-420, especially in his De Viris 
Illustribus and in the introductions to his Latin translation 
of the Bible) and Saint Augustine (354-430). Cassiodorus, a 
contemporary of some of the Fathers, who was first a states- 
man and afterwards an abbot (ce. 470-560), wrote the [sagoge,* 
a special work on the Bible, for his religious, and the African 
lawyer, Junilius, wrote a similar book about the year 550, basing 
it on Theodorus of Mopsuestia. 

In the Middle Ages not much attention was paid to his- 
torical and linguistic studies, and for this reason the great 
medieval theologians are not of much assistance in supplying 
the sort of material we need. It is, however, not true that Holy 
Scripture was unknown at that time. On the contrary, the 
Bible was the foundation of almost all their learned works, and 
that the people were familiar with it is proved by the numerous 
works of art, e. g. stained-glass windows, in churches dating 
back to the Middle Ages. ‘The Bible was the first book that ever 
appeared in print (1450), and by 1500 it had been printed over 
100 times (Janssen, Gesch. d. d. Volkes, I, p. 18). Ini the 
Middle Ages the Bible was studied with particular zeal in Spain, 
where the Christians were obliged to defend their faith against 
Mahometans and Jews. These circumstances prompted the com- 
position of the Pugio fider adv. Mauros et Judeos by Raimundus 
Martini, and of many works by the Franciscan Raimundus 
Sullus. Another Franciscan, Nicholas of Lyra (died 1340), 
collected and arranged in the prefaces to his postils such infor- 
mation about Holy Scripture as then existed. 


1 Migne, Patres Lat., Vol. LXX. The word Jsagoge is used in the 
same sense as by Cassiodorus, also by the Dominican Santes Pagninus, 
1536. 


INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE 189 


The Dominican Sixtus of Siena (died 1599) in his Bibli- 
otheca Sancta, essayed to defend in an intelligent manner the 
teaching of the Council of Trent regarding Holy Scripture 
against the Reformers. Cardinal Bellarmine, 8.J., wrote the 
first book (De Verbo Dew) of his great work De Controversiis 
Fidet with a similar intention. Many of the numerous com- 
mentators who followed him, especially Salmeron, Serarius and 
Bonfrerius, wrote works that were to be introductory to the 
study of the Bible. 

What we at present call historical and critical study intro- 
ductory to Holy Scripture was begun by Richard Simon, priest 
of the Oratory (died 1712),’ who opposed the pantheist Spinoza, 
and Calmet, a Benedictine (died 1757). 


2. ARRANGEMENT OF AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE 


An introduction to the Bible may suitably be divided into 
the following headings: 

1. The origin of the sacred books, or Holy Scripture as 
God’s word, — first and fundamental part. 

2. The collection of the sacred books, or Holy Scripture as a 
whole, — second part, general introduction. 

3. Component parts of Holy Scripture, or the sacred books 
considered singly, — third part, special introduction. 


1 Of his many writings the ones to which special reference is made 
here are his Histoire critique du Vieux Testament and his Histoire cri- 
tique du text du Nouveau Testament. 


FIRST PART 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, OR HOLY SCRIP- 
TURE AS THE WORD OF GOD 


3. GENERAL SURVEY 


OD, who is above all, has communicated to some individuals 
particular supernatural knowledge, and this communica- 
tion is called revelation. Those honored by receiving it made 
known the revealed truths to others, partly by word of mouth 
(tradition) and partly by writing them down by aid of God’s 
special co-operation (Holy Writ). As the divine truths were 
communicated at different times, they were written down at dif- 
ferent times, and in this way several sacred books gradually came 
into existence, which, being collected into one whole, are called 
the canonical books or Bible. ‘The mark therefore by which 
the sacred books are distinguished from others is their divine 
origin, 1.e. they came into being in consequence of some par- 
ticular action on God’s part, which is called inspiration. The 
instrument by which we are assured of the divine character 
of the written revelation, or by which we recognize the inspired 
writings, is the Canon, i.e. the list of the sacred books drawn 
up by the Church. 
We have therefore to consider: (1) Inspiration; (2) the 
Canon. 


FIRST SECTION 


INSPIRATION 


4. TEACHING OF THE CHURCH ON THE SUBJECT OF 
INSPIRATION 


It is the teaching of the Church that Holy Scripture owes its 
origin not merely to human, but more especially to divine action. 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 191 


This teaching was formulated last by the Vatican Council in 
1870 and stated in the words: Spiritu Sancto inspirante con- 
scriptt (librt) Deum habent auctorem (Sess. 3, cap. 2). In 
the same way the Council of Trent declared that God was the 
author of the books of both the Old and the New Testaments 
(Sess. 4, de can. scr.).1. Pope Eugenius IV also used similar 
language in the decree of Union, 1439;? and still earlier, at the 
Second Council of Lyons in 1274, the same fact was proclaimed.*® 
Cf. Decretum Inquis. Rom. d. d. 3d Julu 1907, Nos. 9, 10, 11. 

Evidence in support of this doctrine of the Church is derived 
from Holy Scripture itself and from tradition. 

Holy Scripture itself frequently bears witness to its divine 
origin. 


(a) In the prophet Osee viii. 12, God ascribes to Himself the author- 
ship of the Pentateuch: “‘I shall write to him [Israel] my manifold 
laws [i.e. far more often than has already been done; Moses is known 
to have written several times at God’s bidding], which have been ac- 
counted as foreign.” In Acts iv. 24, 25, the 2d Psalm, although composed 
by David, is ascribed to God: “ Lord, thou art he . . . who by the Holy 
Ghost, by the mouth of our father David, ... hast said.” In Hebrews 
i. 7 the 103d Psalm is quoted as God’s word: “ And to the angels indeed 
he saith: qui facit angelos suos spiritus.” In the same way there is a 
reference in Heb. iv. 4, etc., to Gen. ii. 2, 3, and to Ps. xciv. Cf. Acts 
xxviil, 25; II Tim. iii.”16; II Peter i. 21. 

(6) Jesus Christ Himself quoted passages from the sacred books, 
adding that they proceeded from the Holy Ghost: Matthew xxii. 43; 
Mark xii. 36. 


Its divine origin may be recognized in the construction of the 
Bible. 


(a) It contains many statements which could not be the outcome of 
merely human knowledge. This is true particularly of the types and 
prophecies, many of which were at first obscure and unintelligible, and 
only gradually became plain and were understood (e.g. Gen. 1ii. 15; Xvi. 
Bie XIV eke 1S W1i 14 5 ORIVe oO soe X XI els BIUKE X11) 32} « 

(6) The Holy Scriptures, although belonging to various periods and 


1 Sacra synodus omnes libros tam veteris quam novi testamenti, quam 
utriusque unus Deus sit auctor, .. . suscipit et veneratur. 

2 (Romana ecclesia) Deum veteris et novi testamenti profitetur auc- 
torem, quoniam eodem Spiritu sancto inspirante utriusque testamentt 
Sancti locuti sunt. 

3 Oredimus novi et veteris testament, legis et prophetarum et aposto- 
rum unum esse auctorem Deum ac Dominum omnipotentem., 


192 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


written by many different persons, nevertheless bear a uniform character, 
and appear as one consistent whole, dominated by the same opinions and 
having the uniform aim of bringing men to God. One and the same 
spirit prevails and speaks in all the books of the Bible. “ As in Paradise, 
God walks in the Holy Scriptures, seeking man. When a sinner reads 
these Scriptures, he hears God’s voice saying, ‘ Adam, where art thou?’ ” 
(Ambros., de Paradiso). The Old Testament tells us of the preparations 
made for saving the lost; the New Testament tells us of the actual sal- 
vation; in the one are the promises, in the other their fulfillment. See 
Hermeneutics, p. 449. 


Tradition supplies very numerous testimonies to it. 


Thus Clement of Rome calls the sacred books of the Old Testament 
“true pronouncements of the Holy Ghost”;* Justin Martyr says the 
prophets were inspired by the Logos (Apologia, I, 36, 39); Clement of 
Alexandria designates the sacred books “ divine utterances ” (Oeta \oyia) 
(Strom., 1X, 345), ete. Of. Leo XIII, Encyclical, pp. 159 and 175. 


5. WHAT IS MEANT BY INSPIRATION 


The Church declares God Himself to be the primary author of 
Holy Scripture. The Councils have not given us any explanation 
of this doctrine, and so it is left to theologians to give a precise 
account of what is meant by inspiration.? Now theologians 
understand by inspiration, or theopneustia, an action of the 
divine spirit upon the human mind, whereby the latter is raised 
so far above its natural powers that its productions cease to 
be merely human works, but are at the same time divine. 


* Ep. I ad Cor., 45: éyxdmrere els Tas ypadas, Tas adyOels pyoers rvevpuato 
TOU aylov. 

7 See Schmid, De inspirationis Biblioruwm vi et ratione, Brix., 1885. 
Dausch, Die Schriftinspiration, Frbg., 1891. Leitner, Die prophet. In- 
spiration, Frbg., 1896. Chauvin, Die Imp. d. Hl. Schr., tibers. v. Pletl, 
Regensb., 1899. Holzhey, Schépfung, Bibel und Insp., Stuttgart, 1902. 
v. Hummelauer, 8.J., Haxegetisches zur Inspirationslehre, Frbg., 1904. 
Fonck, S.J., Kampf wm die Wahrheit der Hl. Schrift, Innsbr., 1905. 
Peters, Stellung der Kath. Kirche zur Bibelforschung, Paderborn, 1905. 
Pesch, Chr., S.J., De inspiratione s. Script., Frbg., 1906. Cf. Haidacher, 
Lehre d. hl. Joh. Chrysostomus tiber die Schriftinspiration, Salzb., 1897. 
(According to Saint John Chrysostom God is really and truly the pri- 
mary author of Holy Scripture, and throughout we have to assume a 
real inspiration, and in exceptional passages also a verbal inspiration. 
Consequently the Scriptures are completely free from error.)  Zéllig, 
Die Inspirationslehre des Origines, Frbg. i. Br., 1902. (According to 
Origen the literal meaning is of minor importance, and may often be 
quite wrong, but the mystical sense is the chief matter.) 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 193 


When they proceed to determine this divine action more par- 
ticularly with reference to the sacred books, theologians differ. 

1. Some give too broad an interpretation of the idea of 
inspiration, and say that a book originating in a merely human 
way, without supernatural intervention of the Holy Ghost, may 
be called inspired, if the Church under the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost admits it to the Canon, thus confirming its contents and 
declaring that it contains divine revelation without error. This 
view leaves practically no scope for inspiration, and it cannot 
be reconciled with the Church, which declares God Himself to 
be the primary author of Holy Scripture. The Vatican Council 
expressly condemned this opinion (Sess. 3, cap. 2). Equally 
wrong is the theory that inspiration affects only res fidew et 
morum, so that Holy Scripture may contain mistakes on such 
subjects as science and history, for its aim is not to impart in- 
formation on matters of this kind, but only to teach men what 
they must believe and how they must live. In this way God 
Himself, the primary author of the Scriptures, would be the 
author of error;* and for this reason Leo XIII condemned the 
theory as false in his Encyclical Providentissemus. 


Consequitur ut qui in locis authenticis librorum sacrorum quidpiam 
falsi contineri posse existiment, uw profecto aut catholicam divine in- 
spirationis notionem pervertant, aut Deum ipsum erroris faciant auc- 
torem (see p. 176). 


2. Too broad also is the opinion of others who say that 
“inspiration consists in the divine impulse to write, and in 
preservation from error whilst writing.” If God is the primary 
author of Holy Scripture, His divine influence must do more 
‘than merely avert errors; some positive action of God must have 
made itself felt in the composition of the sacred books. 

3. Others have too narrow an idea of inspiration, and assume 
that every word was a matter of divine communication. Against 
this theory we may say: (a) God’s divine influence never de- 


1 There are indeed mistaken opinions and doctrines in Holy Scripture, 
but they are only quotations made for the purpose of controverting them. 
Such, for instance, occur in Kecclesiastes ii. 24, viii. 15; 1 Cor. xv. 32. 
This was the reply given to a question referred to the Papal Biblical 
Commission, Feb. 15, 1905. 


194 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


stroys human individuality, but is wont only to raise, ennoble 
and transform nature.’ ()) Every one of the sacred writers has 
his own particular language; Isaias no less than Jeremias, and 
Saint John as well as Saint Paul, all reveal their definite char- 
acter. (c) The same event, e.g. the birth of Christ, His Pas- 
sion and Resurrection, is described in different ways by different 
authors. (d) The sacred writers declare that they have en- 
countered difficulties in their work, and have had to take trouble 
over it (e.g. Ps. Ixxil. 16; Eccles. xii. 9. Sirach in his preface). 
Accordingly we cannot accept a strictly verbal inspiration,” yet 
we must admit: (a) that God gave special revelations to the 
sacred writers, and that the choice of many most important 
words and expressions, such as Elohim, Yahweh, Logos, Sophaa, 
Mashiach, was made through inspiration; (b) that the language 
of the sacred writers was permeated, raised and ennobled by. 
the divine influence; for just as God is the author of the written 
word, so is He also of the language (cf. I Cor. 1. 13).* There- 
fore the language of Holy Writ is the model most worthy of 
imitation by preachers. 

4. The correct view of inspiration is the following: (1) The 
Holy Ghost impels the authors to write; (2) He enlightens them, 
so that they fall into no error; (3) He directs them in the 
choice of their subject; (4) He assists them in finding language 
to express their meaning: (5) He imparts to them supernatural 
revelation with regard to all that they otherwise could not know, 

* It may also be taken for granted that the sacred writers often spoke 
of things as they saw them, and used everyday expressions, although 
strictly scientific accuracy would have required other forms of speech. 
In just the same way modern astronomers speak of sunrise and sunset. 
Thus bees (Sir. xi. 3) and bats (Lev. xi. 19) are called birds, not in the. 
narrower sense, but in a general way, as winged creatures. 

* The early Protestants declared that the original text had come di- 
rectly from God; hence they regarded even the vowel marks and accents 
of the Hebrew as inspired. This theory had to be abandoned when it 


became known that these marks had not been inserted before the sixth 
century. 

* Pope Leo XIII writes: “He [i.e. the Holy Ghost] so assisted them 
[the inspired writers] during their writing, that all those things, and 
those alone, which He ordered, they both rightly conceived in their mind, 
and wished to write faithfully, and expressed them in suitable language 
with infallible accuracy; otherwise He would not be the author of the 
entire Sacred Scripture (see p. 176). 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 195 


e.g. respecting prophecies; (6) He provides also that the de- 
posit of faith contained in Holy Scripture shall be correctly 
rendered in various languages, so that inspiration belongs not 
only to the original text but to every authentic text. 

The question whether in the case of the Apostles (as well as in that 
of the prophets) inspiration was given through the e¢all of God, or 
whether this affected only their oral discourses, must probably be de- 
cided in the second sense. They were told simply to go forth and preach; 
therefore a special inspiration was required to enable them to write. 
(The first view, that no further inspiration was necessary, is supported 
by Schanz, Dausch and others; the second by Pesch, Cornely, etc.) 
Were the inspired persons aware of the divine influence? Not always, 


or at least not always clearly, as is shown by Caiphas, who prophesied 
unconsciously (John xi. 51). 


SECOND SECTION 


THE CANON OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 
6. MEANING OF THE EXPRESSION 


Ever since the time of the Fathers of the Church, the col- 
lection of sacred books has been known as the Canon. The 
Greek word Kavey signifies rule or standard. Two opinions 
exist as to the sense in which this name is given to Holy Scrip- 
ture. Some think that it means that these books, as they con- 
tain divine revelations, are a rule and standard of faith and 
life for men. According to this interpretation, therefore, the 
expression “ Canonical Books’ means regulating or standard- 
izing books. According to the other opinion, the word ‘ Canon ” 
implies that the collection of these books by the Church con- 
stitutes the sole rule or standard for what is to be read aloud 
in the Church or used generally in church worship; so that it 
is not permissible to go beyond these books and adopt others. 
Since the time of Saint Jerome the latter view has been com- 
monly accepted, although the other was emphasized by the 
earlier ecclesiastical writers. 

The list of saints is also called the Canon (as the rule for public ven- 
eration); hence we have the word ‘‘ Canonization.” In the same way 


the most important part of the sacrificial prayers at Mass is called the 
Canon, as it is a standing rule for the priest. 


196 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


". OLD AND NEw TESTAMENTS 


Some of the sacred books were written before the time of our 
Lord and the rest after. Therefore they are divided into the 
books of the Old and the books of the New Covenant, or shortly 
(following II Cor. iii. 14) into the Old and the New Testament. 
This use of the word “ Testament ” is identical with “ Covenant,” 
being, in accordance with the usage of the old Latin version of 
the Bible, the translation of the Greek d:aO%«n, by which word 
the Septuagint generally translates the Hebrew berith, Covenant. 


The word dta6nxy signifies also a testament or will disposing of prop- 
erty. There is a reference to this meaning in Hebrews ix. 16, ete., where 
we read “‘ where there is a testament, the death of the testator must of 
necessity come in.” Now the Old Testament came into force with the 
death of beasts, and was sealed with their blood; the New Testament 
came into force with the Son of God, and was sealed with His Blood. 
How much higher is the New than the Old Covenant! 


8. FORMATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON 


In speaking of the Old Testament we have to distinguish two 
canons, the Jewish and the Ecclesiastical; the latter contains 
some books not included in the former. 

In order to come to a correct decision as to the power of the 
Church to add to the Hebrew Canon, we must go back beyond 
the present opinions held by the Jews, to the time when they 
were still regarded as God’s people: Their later judgments are 
no longer authoritative. Let us ask, therefore: How did the 
canon of the Old Testament come into existence, and when was 
it concluded? 

1. It is hardly possible to give a satisfactory answer to 
the question relating to the origin of the Old Testament 
Canon, as we do not know what criteria guided the Jews in 
distinguishing the inspired writings from others and in put- 
ting them together. All that we know with certainty is (a@) that 
sacred books have in every age keen distinguished from those of 
merely human authorship, and (b) that in every age care has 
been taken to collect the sacred books and guard against their 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 12% 


loss.t The charge of the sacred books does not seem to have 
been laid upon the whole nation, but especially upon the priests 
(Deut. xvii. 18). 

Speaking generally, we may say that the whole literature of 
Israel after the time of Moses is an outgrowth of the Mosaic 
law, having this as its foundation and its groundwork. 

The beginning of a collection of the sacred books was made 
under Josue, when the Book of Josue was added to the five 
books of Moses (Jos. xxiv. 26). In a similar way the other 
historical books must have been appended to those already ex- 
isting, since they form an exact continuation of them (Judges 
i. 1; Ruth 1. 1, etc.).2 At a very early period the prophetic 
writings were regarded as forming part of Holy Scripture, for 
Daniel (ix. 2) speaks of them as belonging to the collection 
of sacred books. In the time of the Machabees the didactic 
books also were considered sacred, as we read (I Mach. xii. 9) 
that their holy books were a comfort to the Jews, and this re- 
mark would apply particularly to the class of didactic writings. 
In any case, long before the time of Christ there were three 
classes of sacred books, as there are now, for in the preface 
to the Book of Ecclesiasticus or Sirach mention is made of 
“The Law and the Prophets and the other books ” — undoubt- 
edly as of a collection of sacred writings. 

2. With regard to the date of the conclusion of the Old 
Testament Canon, we have to distinguish the Palestine from the 
Alexandrian Canon. In Palestine the Book of Esdras was ex- 
cluded from the Canon, according to the Jewish tradition, which 
is stated by Josephus Flavius, a contemporary of the Apostles. 
In his work against Apion (I, 8) he speaks of the books which 
the Jews “regard as divine.” He names first “ the five books of 
Moses.” “ After Moses,” he continues, “the prophets who fol- 
lowed Moses recorded the events of their time in thirteen books, 
until the period when Artaxerxes ruled, who succeeded Xerxes. 
There are, moreover, four books containing songs in praise of 


1 Of. Proverbs xxv. 1. “These are also parables of Solomon, which the 
men of Ezechias, King of Juda, copied out.” 

* It is, however, not improbable that this connection was made when 
the sacred books were collected in the time of Esdras. 


198 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


God and rules of life. Between the time when Artaxerxes lived 
and our own, other books have indeed been written, but they 
enjoy no such reputation as the above-mentioned, which are so 
highly esteemed that no one has dared to alter anything in 
them. It is impressed upon all Jews from their birth that 
they must believe these to be divinely written, and that they 
must hold fast to them, and, if need be, sacrifice life itself for 
them.” From this passage it appears that in the opinion of 
Josephus,’ in the time of Artaxerxes I, when Esdras and Nehe- 
mias were alive, the Hebrew Canon was closed. The Jews in 
Alexandria and elsewhere outside Palestine, not knowing Hebrew, 
read the sacred books in Greek (Septuagint), not only those 
collected by Esdras, but others also, which they must have 
regarded as being likewise of divine origin, for they certainly 
would not have associated profane with holy writings. The 
Jews in Palestine, too, had some sacred books not included 
in the strict canon; for in If Machabees ii. 15 they offer to 
send more recent books to their fellow countrymen in Egypt. 
To some extent, even in Palestine itself, the Greek books were 
read in the synagogues. ‘The full Canon of the Old Testament 
was not concluded until the grace of inspiration ceased among 
the Jews, when the foundations of the Church, the new King- 
dom of God, were already being laid, and the Jewish people 
were approaching its final rejection. 


9. CoNTENTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON 


The Church received the sacred books through Christ and 
His Apostles. The question therefore arises, what books were 
considered sacred in our Saviour’s time? Unfortunately we 
possess no complete list of them dating from His time or from 
the period before His lfe;* but not long after His death 


1 We can see from his words that in his time, viz. about 100 A.p., the 
Jews had already become exclusive, and recognized only the Hebrew 
books, and tried to exclude the Greek. 

* From II Machabees ii. 13 we learn only that Nehemias added to the 
already existing sacred books those of Kings and Chronicles, the writ- 
ings of some prophets, the Psalms, and the books of Esdras and Nehe- 
mias. It is certain that the author of the Book of Ecclesiasticus or 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 199 


Josephus Flavius (born 37 A.D.) gave a catalogue of them. 
At a later period Melito of Sardes (about 150 a. pd.) and Origen 
(born 185 a.pD.) made very precise statements regarding the 
sacred books recognized by the Jews of their day. The Talmud, 
too, gives a similar list. 

1. In his already quoted work against Apion (I, 8) Josephus 
Flavius speaks of 22 books “ which are considered divine.” It 
is true that we cannot decide which books he means, as he 
specifies only “5 books of Moses, 13 of the prophets and 4 
others.” His testimony is, however, important, inasmuch as it 
proves that in his time the Jews recognized at least 22 books as 
sacred. 

2. Melito (Medritov), Bishop of Sardes, made a journey to 
Palestine expressly to ascertain from the Jews there what sacred 
books they possessed. He wrote thence a letter to his brother 
Onesimus, which has been preserved (EHuseb., Hist. Hecl., IV, 
26), and in it he enumerates the sacred books of the Jews. The 
only books contained in the present Jewish canon that he fails 
to mention are Nehemias and Esther.* 

3. Origen’s list corresponds with the present Jewish canon, 
but the 12 minor prophets are not mentioned, although it in- 
cludes the two books of Machabees (Euseb., Hist. Hccl., VI, 25). 

4. The earliest official list of the books regarded by the Jews 
as inspired is contained in the Talmud, that was compiled at 
various times between the third and sixth centuries of our era. 
It mentions : 

I. Thora, i.e. law; the 5 books of Moses. 

II. Nebum, i.e. prophets, viz. : 
(a) the early prophets; 6. Josue, 7. Judges, 8. Ruth, 
9. two books of Samuel, 10. two books of Kings. 
(b) the later prophets; 11. Isaias, 12. Jeremias, 13. 
Lamentations, 14. Ezechiel, 15. the twelve minor 
prophets. 


Sirach was familiar with all the protocanonical books with the excep- 
tion, perhaps, of Daniel (Lit. Rundschau, 1900, No. 11). 

* Nehemias was probably reckoned as part of Esdras, and Esther may 
not have been acknowledged because Melito displayed this book in its 
expanded Greek form. 


200 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


III. Kethubim, i.e. hagiographa. 16. Psalms; 17. Proverbs; 
18. Job; 19. Canticles; 20. Qohelet; 21. Esther; 22. 
Daniel; 23. Esdras and Nehemias; 24. Chronicles. 

If Ruth is reckoned as part of Judges, and Lamentations as 

part of Jeremias, the list contains only 22 books. Saint Jerome 

(prologus galeatus) arranges the Jewish canon thus. We cannot 

ascertain from any of these lists which books were regarded as 

sacred by our Saviour and the Apostles, and yet there is no 
doubt on the subject, as we shall proceed to show. 


10. CoNTINUATION. CONTENTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
CANON, ACCORDING TO THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH. 
JUSTIFICATION OF THIS TEACHING. 


The Council of Trent (Sess. 4) drew up an official list of 
the sacred books of the Old Testament. It contains all those 
already mentioned, and in addition (1) Baruch, (2) Tobias, 
(3) Judith, (4) and (5) the first and second Books of Macha- 
bees, (6) Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, and (7) Wisdom, as well 
as extensions of Daniel and Esther. As these books do not occur 
in the canon recognized by the Jews, they have been known since 
the time of Sixtus of Siena as deuterocanonical, whilst the 
others are called protocanonical. (The Vatican Council, III, 2, 
simply renewed the decision of the Council of Trent.) 

Had the Church any right to add to the Jewish canon, and 
to recognize 31 books in the Old Testament instead of 22? ? 
The New Testament contains about 270 quotations from the Old, 
and these are mostly from the Septuagint,* so that in the time 


* This is still the Canon of the Jews, except that in modern Hebrew 
Bibles Ruth and Lamentations are classed among the Kethubim, and 
with Canticles, Qohelet and Esther form the so-called five Megilloth or 
rolls. They are put together because they are read aloud in the syna- 
gogues on certain days, viz. Canticles at the Pasch, Ruth at Pentecost, 
Lamentations on the 9th of Ab (the day when the destruction of both 
the first and the second Temple is commemorated), Qohelet on the Feast 
of Tabernacles, and Esther on the Feast of Purim. 

* If the single books are counted, there are 46, viz. 39 protocanonical 
and 7 deuterocanonical. 

* Saint Matthew has a few quotations from the Hebrew, the other 
Evangelists practically none. 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 201 


of our Lord the Hebrew Bible seems to have been less the standard 
version than the widely spread Greek text of the Old Testament. 
It was the Greek text that the Apostles used themselves and 
gave to the Christians, and this text contains the above-mentioned 
31 sacred books. 

The Jews nowadays pay no attention to this Greek text of 
the Septuagint, but they esteemed it very highly in the time of our 
Lord and the Apostles. Originating among the Jews, it was 
regularly read aloud in the Synagogues, as Justin Martyr (born 
about 100 a. p. at Sichem) testifies (Dial. c. Tryph., 137). Like 
the Apostles, Josephus Flavius made use of it in his writings. 
Even in the third century Baruch was read in the synagogues, 
and in the Talmud Sirach or Ecclesiasticus is mentioned with 
the Law and the Prophets.*| The Church accepted this text and 
all that it contained from the apostles, and could not give it 
up, as she retained the apostles’ teaching. 

That from the very beginning the Church has recognized also 
the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament appears from 
the following evidence: 

1. In the Catacombs, used in the time before Constantine the 
Great as places of assembly for the purpose of worship, there 
are many representations of scenes from the Old Testament, 
and among them some from the deuterocanonical books. 


There are, for instance, pictures of the men in the fiery furnace, sing- 
ing the praises of God; of Habakuk bringing Daniel food; of Tobias 
with the fish, and of his guide Raphael; there are scenes from Judith 
and Esther. There is, however, scarcely a single subject from the 
apocryphal books, not even from such as were used in public worship, as 
e. g. Hermas’ “ Pastor,” and this is a proof that the distinction was clear 
between the canonical and the apocryphal books. 


2. In the disputes between heretics and the faithful quo- 
tations from the deuterocanonical books were made and accepted 
on both sides. Thus, for instance, at the First Council of 
Nicewa (325), the Book of Judith was treated as canonical 
(Hier. pref. in I Judith). 


* They were regarded by the Jews in Palestine as sacred, though not 
canonical, whereas the Hellenistic Jews considered them to be inspired 
and included them in their canon. 


202 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


3. The earliest Fathers and ecclesiastical writers quote all 
our sacred books as being quite on a level. Thus Polycarp 
(Ep. ad Phil., ec. 10) quotes the book of Tobias; Hippolytus of 
Rome comments on the Book of Daniel, including the deutero- 
canonical portions; Saint Ambrose quotes passages from Sirach 
or Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom, and refers to these books as 
scripture. After the fourth century, however, a few of the 
ecclesiastical writers began to treat the deuterocanonical books 
as of inferior importance. This was done by Saint Athanasius 
and especially by Saint Jerome, who, in his prologus galeatus, 
tried to show that the books not contained in the Hebrew canon 
were of value only for edification, and could not be used in 
support of dogmas, and he pronounced them apocryphal. This 
view never won universal acceptation, and most people continued 
to abide by the old arrangement. There were some who followed 
the example of this great scholar until the Middle Ages; even 
Thomas Aquinas wavers to some extent, and this wavering on 
the part of individuals led the teaching authority in the Church 
to fix the canon. This was done by the Council of Trent. 

4, That the decision at Trent was not suddenly thrust upon 
the Church, but was based on tradition, appears from earlier 
ecclesiastical decisions, which had not, however, been addressed 
to the universal Church. Exactly the same lst of the Old 
Testament scriptures as the Tridentine was given by Pope 
Damasus in a decretal of the year 374,’ by a synod held in 
Africa in 393, during the hfetime of Saint Augustine, and by 
Pope Innocent I in a letter to Bishop Exsuperius of Toulouse, 
in 405. 

5. The Oriental sects, severed during the first few centuries 
from the unity of the Church, agree absolutely with the Church 
regarding the canon. 


11. ORIGIN OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 


The early Christians set upon the writings of the Apostles 
exactly the same value as upon their oral teaching; they recog- 


' The authenticity of this decretal is challenged by Friedrich. 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 203 


nized both alike as the word of God. But at a very early period 
some books appeared under pretense of apostolic origin, but not 
really authentic. Saint Luke (i. 1) speaks of many who had 
written an account of Christ. Precautions had to be taken with 
regard to these works, and the following principle was found 
to be a safe one: 

As a rule the Apostles wrote only when particular local or 
personal conditions caused them to do so. Only a few of 
their works were from the outset intended for general use, such 
as the epistles to the Colossians and Galatians, and the first 
Epistle of Peter. In the churches where the apostolic writings 
had been composed (e.g. Saint Mark’s Gospel in Rome), or to 
which they were addressed, and whither they had been brought 
by trustworthy messengers, it was the custom to read them at 
public worship. If then one or another Christian church ex- 
pressed a desire to possess also some particular book of apostolic 
authorship, a copy was made and dispatched. No work was 
accepted as apostolic unless it had the evidence for its authen- 
ticity of the Church where it had been written, or to which it 
was addressed. If no such evidence were forthcoming, the book 
was not considered authentic, even though it professed to be 
written by an Apostle.* 


12. CONTENTS OF THE NEw TESTAMENT CANON 


It is plain from what has been said that not every Christian 
congregation can originally have possessed every book written 
by the Apostles. The multiplication and diffusion of the apos- 
tolic writings was hindered by well-grounded suspicions of their 
authenticity, by the poverty of the majority of Christianity, by 
the difficulties of traveling and of transport, as well as by the 
danger of persecution. The collections of books must have 
varied at first, and must have remained so for a longer or 
shorter time, according to circumstances. After the third cen- 
tury still greater caution was shown on account of heretics, and 
the Christians, remembering the Apostle’s warning in IT Thessa- 


1 Tren., Adv. her., III, iv. 1; Tertull., Adv. Marcion, IV, 5; Kaulen, I, 
31, ete. 


204 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


lonians, ii. 14, as a rule were unwilling to depart from the tra- 
dition that had come down to them. 

Some of the apostolic writings were, however, comparatively 
soon collected and circulated almost everywhere, so that, as far 
as we know, there was never any doubt as to their authenticity. 
These were the 4 Gospels, Acts, 13 Epistles of Saint Paul, the 
first Epistle of Saint Peter and the first of Saint John. The 
Apostolic Fathers Papias and Saint Ignatius the Martyr are 
witnesses to the existence of a collection which probably com- 
prised these books. For Papias speaks expressly of the Gospels 
(see the Special Introduction), and Ignatius refers to the “ Gos- 
pel and the Apostles ” in exactly the same way as to the Law 
and the Prophets of the Old ~Covenant (Hp. ad Philad., c. 5 
and 9). 

The seven remaining books of the New Testament were known 
in some congregations from the beginning, but only later found 
general acceptation. ‘Phese are the Epistle to the Hebrews, the 
second Epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, the 
epistles of James and Jude and, finally, the Apocalypse. (These 
books may be termed deuterocanonical, on the analogy of the 
Old Testament. ) 


In his edition of the Apostolic Fathers, Funk has counted 68 allu- 
sions to the New Testament in the Epistle of Barnabas, 158 in the first 
epistle written by Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, 79 in the second 
epistle, 53 in the letters of Ignatius, 68 in those of Polycarp, and 29 in 
the epistle to Diognetus. 

Cornely (Comp., 39) points out that Saint Matthew’s Gospel was 
known to all the Apostolic Fathers; Saint Mark’s at least to Papias; 
Saint Luke’s at least to Clement of Rome, Polycarp and the heretic 
Basilides; Saint John’s to Ignatius, to the author of the Epistle to 
Diognetus and to Basilides; Acts to Clement of Rome, Ignatius and 
Polyearp; Saint Paul’s Epistles to different churches were known to 
almost all the Apostolic Fathers, and the Pastoral Epistles also to Clem- 
ent of Rome, Ignatius and Polycarp; the first of Saint Peter to Papias 
and Polyecarp; the first of Saint John and the Apocalypse at least to 
Papias and Polycarp; the second of Saint Peter probably to Clement of 
Rome and Polycarp, Saint James to Clement of Rome. We ought, 
however, to remember that the writings of the Apostolic Fathers are few 
in number, and were not intended for all Christians nor addressed to all; 
it is therefore surprising that only four short epistles are not mentioned 
by them, viz. Philemon, second and third of Saint John, and Saint Jude. 
Thus during the first of the second century the greater and more impor- 
tant books of the New Testament were already well known. 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 205 


13. Tor NEw TESTAMENT CANON OF THE EARLIEST CHURCHES 


If we ask the chief churches of early Christianity, those that 
were the parents of others, what was their oldest canon of the 
New Testament, we shall obtain the following information: 

1. From the Roman church we have a very ancient list of 
the books of the New ‘Testament, contained in the so-called 
Fragmentum Muratoru,’ dating from the second century.?” It 
contains all our books of the New Testament, except four epistles 
(Hebrews, James, first and second of Peter). The earlest 
Latin translation ([tala), which was compiled at least in part 
as early as the first century, contains all our New Testament 
books.® 

2. In the church of Antioch, the Syrian translation, known 
as Peshitto, dating from the second century, was in general use. 
This contained all the books of the New Testament with the 
exception of five (second of Peter, second and third of John, 
Jude, and the Apocalypse). 


It is true that Ephrem the Syrian, writing soon after 300 A.D., quotes 
the latter books, but they probably did not form part of the original 
Peshitto, but were added later. The translation of them is certainly of 
later date than that of the rest of the book. Instead of the Gospels, 
Tatian’s Diatessaron was read in Edessa (see p. 210). 


3. With regard to Palestine, no catalogue of the New Testa- 
ment books exists older than that made by Saint Cyril of Jerusa- 
lem in the middle of the fourth century. It contains all the 
books as we have them, with the exception of the Apocalypse. 

4. From the church of Alexandria we have the testimony 
of Clement of Alexandria (150-217), of whom Eusebius tells us 


1 For a fuller account see Cornely, Comp., 621; Introd., i. 167. 

2 Zahn fixes 210 as its date. The writer however says that Hermas 
wrote his “ Pastor,” “ nuperrime temporibus nostris,” whilst his brother 
Pius was pope. This can be no one but Pius I (142-157); hence the 
“ Pastor” belongs to the second century, and the “ Fragment” is of the 
same period. It is so called because its beginning and end are missing. 
M. Schanz believes it to be a translation from a Greek original. 

® Of course it is impossible that it should from the very beginning 
have contained all the books of the New Testament, as the Can. Mur. 
shows. 


206 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


(Hist. Eccl., VI, 14) that he made a summary of all the sacred 
books, including those of doubtful authenticity. In the writings 
that have come down to us he mentions all the apostolic writ- 
ings except the second Epistle of Saint Peter, and the second and 
third of Saint John. He must, however, have known the latter 
epistles, as he speaks of the first Epistle as “the greater.” His 
pupil Origen (185-254) gives (Hom. 7, in Josue) a list of all 
our books of the New Testament; and Saint Athanasius, who 
lived somewhat iater, is in complete agreement with it. 

The Coptic translations, which are of very early origin, dating 
probably from the second century, contain likewise all our 
canonical books (see Kaulen, I, 40). 

5. The practice of the West African church can be learnt 
from a list contained in an African manuscript dating from a 
period before Saint Augustine, which Mommsen has edited. 
Three Epistles, viz., Hebrews, James and Jude, are missing in 
this list. From Africa we have also the list given in the Codex 
Claramontanus (cf. p. 231), In which three of Saint Paul’s 
Epistles are not mentioned (Phil. and first and second Thess.). 


The Codex Claramontanus belongs to the sixth century, but the list 
of the sacred books is copied from an earlier original, dating from the 
third or fourth century. 


6. The fullest account of the books of the New Testament 
is given by the ecclesiastical writer Eusebius. In his “ Church 
History ” (111. 26) he gives the names of all the books which in his 
time were regarded as being of apostolic origin, and he classifies 
them thus: (a) those universally acknowledged as genuine 
(oporoyovpeva ), (b) those decidedly not genuine or of heretical 
origin (mavTedk@s ve0a), and (c) those whose authenticity is 
contested. 

Under the heading (a) he places the four Gospels, the Acts, 
14 Epistles of Saint Paul, first of Saint Peter and first of Saint 
John, and (though with some hesitation) the Apoclypse. Under 
(b) the Shepherd of Hermas, the Apocalypse of Saint Peter, 
ete., and under (c) the Epistle of Saint James, that of Saint 
Jude, the second Epistle of Saint Peter, and the second and 
third of Saint John. 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 207 


14. ECCLESIASTICAL DECISIONS REGARDING THE CANON OF 
THE NEw TESTAMENT 


The African Synods already mentioned (p. 202) and still 
earlier Pope Damasus (374) and afterwards Pope Innocent [, 
declared all the 27 books, that now form the canon, to be of 
apostolic origin. As, however, these decisions were not ad- 
dressed to the universal church, some doubt was still possible; 
especially as the apostolicity of the Apocalypse was questioned 
in many quarters, at least in the East. It was not until the 
Council of Trent (s. 4 de can.) that the 27 books of the New 
Testament “with all their parts, as they are contained in the 
old Latin Vulgate,” were expressly declared canonical for the 
whole Church. 


Supplementary Note. The historical result of investigations regard- 
ing the canon of the New Testament is: (1) The apostolic origin of the 
four Gospels, Acts, thirteen epistles of Saint Paul, the first Epistle of 
Saint Peter and the first of Saint John has never been doubted. (2) The 
other books of the New Testament have always been generally consid- 
ered apostolic, but individuals have doubted their authenticity. (3) From 
the fourth century onwards all the books of the New Testament, as we 
now have them in the canon, have been accepted in all parts of the 
Church. (4) The previous hesitation on the part of some churches to 
accept certain books of the New Testament proceeded from reasonable 
prudence, especially with regard to Heretics. 


APPENDIX. PROTESTANT OPINIONS CONCERNING 
THE CANON 


These opinions conflict with those of Christians in ancient 
times. The Reformers began by adhering closely to the canon, 
but as it was one of their principles that in matters of religion 
private judgment is the chief authority, differences were inevi- 
table on this point as on others. Karlstadt drew attention to 
Saint Jerome’s view of the deuterocanonical books in the Old 
Testament, and soon many people declared these books to be 
apocryphal. Modern Protestants, as far as they still believe in 
inspiration, adhere to this opinion. With reference to the New 
Testament, Luther stated that every man could think what he 
liked about the Apocalypse, and believe what his own intellect 


208 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


suggested. He also spoke against the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
that of Saint Jude, and particularly that of Saint James, but 
he did not absolutely reject them. Later Lutherans recognized 
only the om“oAroyovpyeva, and declared the seven others to be 
apocryphal, although many at the present day have come back 
to the old opinion. Rationalistic Protestants in quite modern 
times refuse to acknowledge any inspiration, and then of course 
the canon plays no part.* 


Many refuse altogether to accept the dogmatic conception of an Old 
and a New Testament, but abandon it as a ‘‘ measure taken from the 
tool-chest of the Catholic Church,” and regard the books hitherto called 
canonical with many others ‘“ extra-canonical ” merely as sources of in- 
formation for the history of religion in general. 


15. APocRYPHAL Booxs 


1. Before the time of Christ, and still more frequently after- 
wards, books were written which many people believed to be 
inspired, but which the Church never included in the canon. 
These are called apocryphal. 


The name is borrowed from the religious books of the heathen, which 
were carefully kept secret (dméxpuypos = concealed). The Christians seem 
to have regarded all books falsely claiming to be inspired with the same 
sort of horror as the secret religious writings of the heathen. The word 
implies, therefore, that these books ought not to be used, but set apart 
and not read in the churches.’ 


2. Among the Apocryphal Writings of the Old Testament we 
must mention particularly: (a) The Book of Henoch, written by 
Jews in the second century before Christ.2 (b) The Psalms of 


* Three schools of thought regarding inspiration are now distinguished 
among Protestants: Liberal, Strict (who, like the older Protestant dog- 
matic writers, believe in verbal inspiration) and those midway between 
them. Hitherto no one has succeeded in steering a middle course 
satisfactorily. 

? Collections of Apocrypha: Fabricius, Codex pseud-epigraphus, 
V. T.; idem, Codex apocryphus, N. T., Hamburg, 1703-1723; Thilo, 
Codex apocryphus, N. T., Lips., 1832; Tischendorf, Evangelia apoecrypha, 
Lips., Ed. 2, 1876; Acta apost. apocr., Lips. 1851; Apocalypses apocr., 
Lips., 1866; Hilgenfeld, Novwm Test. extra canonem receptum, Lips., 
1866. 

® The complete text exists only in Ethiopian, edited by Dillmann in 
1853. An imperfect Greek text was found at Akhmim in Upper Egypt. 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 209 


Solomon, a collection of 18 psalms, that have been preserved 
in Greek but were composed in Hebrew by pious Jews in the 
second century before Christ. (c) The third and fourth books 
of Esdras; the third was written before Christ, but the fourth . 
about 100 a.p. (d) The Prayer of King Manasses, date 
unknown. The two last mentioned books, (c) and (d), were 
formerly often .regarded as canonical, and so are appended to 
official editions of the Vulgate. 

3. Lhe Apocryphal Books of the New Testament are very 
numerous. They fall into two classes: (a) those written in 
support of heresies, (b) harmless legends and similar works. 

(a) To the apocryphal books of the first kind belong: 

(1) The Gospel according to the Hebrews, used by the 
Nazarenes and Ebionites, two sects of Christian Jews. ‘The com- 
mon opinion of antiquity was that this book was the Hebrew 
original of Saint Matthew’s Gospel but had suffered many 
alterations. This view was not shared by the sects mentioned, 
nor by many modern critics. (2) The Gospel and Apocalypse of 
Peter, and works with Docetic tendencies, written probably in 
Syria, in the second century. A fragment of the Gospel was dis- 
covered in 1892 by Bouriant (cf. Zahm, Das Petrusevangelwum, 
Erl. and Lpz., 1893). (3) The Gospel of Marcion, a mutilated 
version of Saint Luke, dating from the time of the second 
century. ‘The Gospel of Basilides seems to have been a similar 
work.’ 

(b) Among the legends and similar works, which are very 
numerous, we may mention: : 

(1) The Protoevangelium of James, brother of the Lord. 
The greater part of this book is concerned with Mary, the 
Mother of Christ, and the Wise Men from the East. The story 
is told in a simple and dignified manner, and it must be very 
ancient, as Origen was acquainted with it. Many believe the con- 


* Kaulen regards it as a re-written version of the Gospel of Saint 
Matthew, compiled not later than 100 a.p. Handmann, however, thinks 
it. is of independent origin, though related to Saint Matthew’s Gospel. He 
believes that it was written in Aramaic, translated into Greek very soon 
afterwards, probably in Alexandria, and kept on strictly Jewish Christian 
lines. 

* This is mentioned by Origen, Hom. in Luce., I, 1. 


210 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


tents of this book to be perfectly true. (2) The Gospel of Nico- 
demus, extant both in Greek and Latin, a very dignified account 
of Christ’s Passion, was highly esteemed and widely known in 
the Middle Ages. (3) The Acta Pilati, a collection of written 
documents and reports concerning our Lord’s Passion. (4) The 
letter written by King Abgar of Osroene to Christ and His reply 
to it. This correspondence cannot be regarded as genuine, for the 
first Christian King of that district was Abgar VIII, who only 
ascended the throne in 176 a.p. (5) The Didache, i.e. teaching 
of the Twelve Apostles, written in Syria or Palestine, and dis- 
covered in Constantinople in 1884. It is quoted by many of the 
Fathers, and was often used in ancient times for the instruction of 
catechumens, but as it does not possess any apostolic credentials, 
Eusebius (ist. Eccl., III, 52) classes it among the avrireyoueva, 
It is important on account of its high antiquity, for it probably 
dates from the first century. It contains 16 chapters in Greek. 
(6) The Sayings of Jesus, very recently discovered, and be- 
longing probably to the third century. At first it was sug- 
gested that these were a part of the Adyla Kupiov, which, accord- 
ing to Papias, formed the groundwork of the Gospel of Saint 
Matthew (see chapters on Matthew) ; but this view is not tenable. 
We have only six or eight short utterances, which bear more re- 
semblance to Saint John than to Saint Matthew; one, for in- 
stance, is “I appeared to them in the flesh.” The origin of 
these words is quite unknown (see Katholik, 1898, I and II). 
(7) Tatian’s Diatessaron. Tatian was a disciple of Saint 
Justin Martyr; as the name of his book implies, it is a har- 
mony of all the Gospels; it was written in Syrian about 170 a. D., 
and until 400 was used in the churches in Syria, but was then 
removed and destroyed, because the separate gospels were ordered 
to be read; hence not a single Syrian or Greek copy of this 
work has come down to us.* 


* This work, which Ephrem the Syrian still used instead of the sepa- 
rate Gospels, was, as the name implies, translated into Greek, and later 
into Latin, in 545, by Victor, Bishop of Capua. From the Latin version 
an old German translation was made in the ninth century, which is one 
of the earliest existing books in the German language. The Augustinian 
Ciasea discovered an Arabic text of the Diatessaron in Rome; it was 
published in 1888 with a Latin translation. The book called “ Our 


ORIGIN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 211 


Lord’s Testament,” discovered and published by Rahmani in 1899, 
was originally written in Greek, and versions of it are extant in the 
Syrian, Arabic and Ethiopian languages. It must not be classed with 
the apocryphal books, but was compiled about 475 from the Egyptian 
service book, and this again from the 8th Book of the Apostolic 
Constitutions. 


SECOND PART 


GENERAL INTRODUCTION —THE BIBLE 
AS A WHOLE 


16. TRANSITION 


UST as the Bible has not one, but many authors, so all its 

parts were not written in the same language, and the sacred 
books have not in every case been handed down in the language 
in which they were composed but often in translations. Thus 
for centuries the Old Testament was known to the Greeks and 
Romans only in Greek, but later also in Latin. Accordingly, 
when we consider the Bible as a whole, we have to consider (1) 
the original text, (2) the translations of Holy Scripture. 


FIRST SECTION 


THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 
17%. BrpuicaAL LANGUAGES IN GENERAL 


Holy Scripture was written partly in Hebrew, partly in 
Chaldee, and partly in Greek; but we do not possess all the 
books written first in Hebrew and Chaldee in their original 
language. The greater part of the Old Testament was both 
composed and preserved in Hebrew. Only some portions of the — 
Book of Esdras (iv. 7-v. 18; xxii.—xxvi.) and about half of the 
Book of Daniel (i1.-vi.) are Chaldee. 

The Books of Judith, Tobias, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus or Sirach, 
I Machabees and parts of Daniel (ili. 24-90; xii. and xiv.) and 
Esther (x.—xvi.) were written in either Hebrew or Chaldee, but 
were lost in their original form, and have been preserved only 
in translations, of which ‘the Greek Septuagint is the oldest. 
The Book of Wisdom, second Machabees and the whole of the 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 213 


New Testament were written in Greek, and have come down 
to us in that language; only the first Gospel was originally com- 
posed in Hebrew or Chaldee. 


18. HEBREW 


I. Hebrew is one of a large group of languages spoken in 
Western Asia, and called generally the Semitic languages. They 
are divided into four chief branches: 

1. Arabic, used in the south of the Semitic speaking region. 
Closely allied to it is Ethiopian, which, like our languages, is 
written and read from left to right, whilst most of the Semitic 
languages are written from right to left. 


Ethiopian, too, was written from right to left, but the Ethiopians 
adopted the opposite direction in imitation of the Greeks (Dillmann, 
Aethiop. Grammatik, 1899). 


2. Aramaic is spoken in the north of the region of the 
Semitic languages. It is divided into Hastern Aramaic, or Syriac, 
that appears chiefly in Christian literature, but also, though in 
a different form, in the Babylonian Talmud, and Western Ara- 
maic, that occurs especially in later Jewish literature (the 
Targumim, Palestine Talmud). The Samaritan belongs to 
the same class. Western Aramaic has from ancient times been 
called Chaldee. 

3. The Babylonan-Assyrian language of the far East appears 
from the cuneiform inscriptions, that have now mostly been 
deciphered, to have been a Semitic language, akin to Hebrew. 

4. From the point of view both of geography and of language, 
Hebrew stands midway between Arabic and Aramaic; and 
Phoenician or Punic is closely allied with it. 


1 In the Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, Berlin, 1889, ete., Schrader 
has brought out six volumes containing most valuable information re- 
garding the history of Babylonia and Assyria, which is so closely con- 
nected with the Oold Testament. ‘“ At a time when all the resources of 
scholarship are marshaled to throw discredit upon the historical char- 
acter of the Old Testament, divine Providence has confirmed its accuracy 
by means of documents which lay forgotten for thousands of years under- 
ground, but were only concealed, being indestructible.” Thus Kaulen, in 
the Lit. Handweiser. 


214 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


With the exception of Arabic, all these languages are at the present 
time quite or very nearly (Syriac) extinct. Arabic has a script of its 
own, like Ethiopian and Syriac; Samaritan still uses the old Semitie or 
Phenician alphabet, with which the sacred books were originally writ- 
ten. Babylonian-Assyrian has cuneiform characters; Chaldee had at 
one time, like Hebrew, the old Semitic or Phenician alphabet, but after 
the Captivity the “ Square-script”’ was used in writing both languages, 
being simpler than the old Semitic. It is also called the Assyrian script, 
and this name refers to its origin in the lands near the Euphrates, not 
specially in Assyria. The various Semitic languages are as closely con- 
nected with one another as are the Romance or the Teutonic languages. 
There are great resemblances between them both in vocabulary and 
grammar. 

With regard to the importance of the study of these languages see the 
words of Pope Leo XIII, p. 173. 


II. Even in the oldest books, Hebrew appears as a fully 
developed language, and it retained this character for about a 
thousand years. With the Babylonian Captivity (about 600 B.c.) 
the language began to fall into decay, and gradually ceased to 
be used by the people, giving place to the Chaldee, that they had 
learnt in exile. 


19. CHALDEE 


One of the Semitic languages is known by this name because 
it originally developed in the land of the Chaldeans, i.e. in 
ancient Babylonia. ‘The Jews used it during and after the 
Babylonian Captivity, for at the time that they were taken 
into exile it was the ordinary means of communication between 
all the Semitic nations, and it remained so even under the 
Persian supremacy (Esdr. iv.—vii.), and was not much affected 
by the introduction of Greek under Alexander the Great. Ac- 
cording to Nehemias vill. 9, it was necessary to translate the 
book of the Law, when it was read aloud to the people; hence 
Hebrew was no longer understood. The small portions of the 
Bible which are written in Chaldee (= Aramaic, Dan. ii. 4, 


1 We know nothing as to the earliest forms of Hebrew, for nothing 
older than the Pentateuch has come down to us. However, this book with 
its archaisms is undoubtedly very old (see p. 270), though, as it has fre- 
quently been re-written, many of its oldest forms of speech may have 
been lost. We can recognize three periods in the language, — that of the 
time of Moses, that of David and Solomon, and that of the Captivity. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 215 


mnw) form the oldest extant memorials of this language. 
As in them it displays considerable perfection, it must have 
been in process of development for a long previous period, of 
which no records remain. Many of later date still survive, 
especially from the time of Christ until 500 a.p. To this 
period belong the T’argumim, i.e. translations or paraphrases of 
the Hebrew Bible, which were required for use in the syna- 
gogues, and the chief part of the Talmud. At the time of 
Christ Chaldee was the language usually spoken, and our 
Saviour Himself used it, as appears from several expressions 
occurring in the Gospels (e.g. Talitha qumi, Kepha, abba) .* 

In the New Testament Chaldee is called Hebrew. John xix. 
20, Acts xxil. 2. 


20. GREEK 


The Greek that we have in the Bible is not the classical Greek, 
but a dialect that developed after the time of Alexander the 
Great in the countries that he had conquered, and chiefly in 
Northern Egypt. It is often called “ Macedonian-Alexandrian ” ? 
or Kown duddextos. The Jews in Egypt translated their sacred 
books from the original Hebrew or Chaldee into this dialect, 
and some sacred books were written in it. The whole of the 
New Testament is in Greek of this kind, because the various 
writers, though not living in Egypt, adopted the language of the 
Septuagint, which was known all over the world and used also in 
Palestine. Biblical Greek has two chief peculiarities: it con- 
tains a good deal of Semitic coloring, and in the New Testa- 
ment many Latinisms. If the Greek books in the Bible are 
compared with others of the same date, written in the Alex- 
andrine dialect, they all show the same idiom. Language, there- 
fore, is a testimony to the authenticity of the sacred books and 
the purity of their text. They may be compared with many 


1 Sometimes our Lord seems to have spoken Greek, especially with 
Greeks who wished to make His acquaintance (John xii.). The Apostles, 
too, understood Greek, though imperfectly. Many people belonging to 
the western nations were living then in Palestine. 

* Thumb thinks that the name “ Macedonian-Alexandrian ” ought to 
be given up, for the xow7 diadexros became the universal language of the 
Greek world, after the old dialects had disappeared. 


216 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


apocryphal writings and papyrus rolls written in Greek that 
have been discovered in Egypt. 


21. ORIGINAL FoRM OF THE TEXT OF THE HEBREW AND 
CHALDEE Books OF THE BIBLE 


Hebrew and Chaldee are. both written in the “ square” script, 


but the square form of the letters was not the original one, and 
the earliest sacred writers used the old Semitic alphabet, which 
is generally called Phoenician, although it was not peculiar to 
the Phoenicians, but was common to all Semitic nations. We 
know this older kind of writing from inscriptions and coins 
belonging to the Assyrians, Babylonians, Moabites and other 
nations, and also to the Jews. It gradually assumed two forms, 
as in the west the old script was retained, and in the east a 
simpler script was adopted. 

1. The Jews used the Pheenician alphabet until the time 
of the Babylonian Captivity, after which they used the new 
script, which is called the Assyrian, or, from the shape of the 
letters, the square [ ] script. The sacred books were in course 
of time re-written from the older script into the [ ] script; this 
was done perhaps partly during the Captivity. 

2. Jewish tradition asserts most positively that Esdras col- 
lected and arranged all the extant sacred books, and that he intro- 
duced in place of the old Hebrew or Phcenician script the As- 
syrian or square writing, in the sacred books of course. If this 
be so, that priest who is repeatedly described in the first and 
second Book of Esdras (e.g. I Hsdr. vii. 6, 11, 12) as “the 
scribe instructed in the words and commandments of the Lord,” 
must have been engaged, of course with others, in rewriting 
the sacred books. 

In the oldest script the words were not divided, but the text 
ran on without interruption. Vowel points were unknown in 
manuscripts until at least the fifth century after our Lord. 
Therefore, according to our ideas, the earlier text was very 
defective, and it was only by means of tradition that the 
reading and understanding of the sacred beoks could be con- 
tinued in the Jewish schools. Such schools existed at the time 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE LY 


of Christ chiefly in Jerusalem and Alexandria; later on there 
were schools at Tiberias, on the Lake of Genesareth, and in 
distant Babylon. 


The Pheenician script may be regarded as a variety of the Egyptian 
hieratic writing, and it is possible that Moses undertook this task of re- 
writing. As the art of writing was known in the time of the Patriarchs, 
long before Moses, the Semitic alphabet may have originated in Baby- 
lonia. The very plausible theory has been suggested that in the Kast, at 
a very early period, a kind of square script was common as well as the 
cuneiform writing, whilst in the West the so-called Phenician, originat- 
ing in Egypt, came into use. It is well known that the Pheenician alpha- 
bet was carried to the Greeks, and through them to all western countries. 

Kaulen assumes that the Septuagint possessed the sacred books in the 
Phenician script. This appears, for instance, from Genesis xlvi. 16, 
where the Septuagint have OacaBdv for Esban ({2¥8), because they read 
the Pheenician Tav instead of Aleph, whereas it would not have been pos- 
sible to confuse FT. with &. Haneberg, however, and Reuss, as also the 
Talmud, Origen and Saint Jerome, adhere to the traditional opinion, that 
the square script came into use at the time of Esdras and was used by the 
Septuagint... That the rewriting into square characters had been com- 
pleted long before the time of Christ is plain from Matthew v. 18. 

The Synedrium removed to Tiberias after the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, and at the same time many Jews migrated to Babylon, as they 
found many of their own nation there, who had remained after the 
Captivity. (Cfr. J. M. Simon, A Scripture Manual, I, pp. 44 sqq.) 


22. LATER FoRMS OF THE HEBREW AND CHALDEB TEXT 


1. In the earlier text only the consonants were written, but 
in course of time, in order to facilitate reading, marks were 
introduced to denote vowels. To alter the sacred text as little 
as possible, these marks were only little dots or lines, placed, as 
a rule, below the consonants. The practice of using these vowel 
points originated in the Rabbinical school at Tiberias, and 
became general in the eighth century.2 A text provided with 
marks for the vowels is called “pointed,” and the earlier 
mode of writing is “unpointed.” It is certain that in all 

* F. Perles shows, from many mistakes in the text, that the square 
script was in use at least as early as the third century before Christ. 
Neubauer, in “ The Introduction of Square Characters in Biblical Manu- 
scripts,” is of the same opinion. 

* Saint Jerome complains of the ambiguity of the Hebrew text, so he 
cannot have known any way of marking the vowels. The Talmud often 


uses expressions showing that only consonants were written when it was 
sompiled. It was completed in the sixth century. 


218 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


essentials this vowel pointing renders the meaning of the 
Bible text correctly, as the Rabbis, to whom we owe it, were 
guided by uninterrupted tradition. The Hebrew text, how- 
ever, cannot claim to be so perfectly and absolutely correct 
as to constrain us, where there are various readings, to disre- 
gard all the old translations (Septuagint, Vulgate and Peshitto) 
and adhere solely to the Hebrew Bible. The Greek, Latin and 
Syriac texts are actually older than the pointed Hebrew. It 
is incredible that the text of a dead language, written without 
vowels, should for centuries invariably have been read correctly 
even in the smallest details. At the present time it is perhaps 
generally admitted that the Hebrew text has been corrupted 
in consequence of similar letters being confused? and words 
wrongly divided. Proper names especially often seem to be 
corrupt. Thus the name “ Nebukadnezar,” as it often stands in 
the Hebrew text, is less like the form “ Nabukudurusur” of the 
cunciform inscriptions, than is the Septuagint “ Nabuchodono- 
sor,” which the translators adopted from an earlier tradition. 
We cannot therefore agree with the Jews and the early Protes- 
tants, who generally prefer this text to any translation, nor can 
we follow Saint Jerome in speaking of an exclusively hebraica 
veritas. 

The vowel points may be left out and the passage read in a way differ- 
ing from the traditional mode of the Jews; and the early translators 
have in many cases adopted other readings. We must not, however, lay 


too much stress upon this, as Jewish tradition supports the vowels now 
in use. 


2. The division of the text of the Hebrew Bible into chap- 
ters and verses is not original, but comparatively recent. The 
division into chapters is not older than the fifteenth century. In 


* There was another less satisfactory method of pointing which came 
from Babylon. In it the points are generally above the consonants. Both 
systems are based on the usage of the Syrians, who, about the time of 
Mahomet, began to add points or dots to their consonantal writing, and 
later adopted the Greek vowels. (The so-called accents in the Hebrew 
text were primarily intended as aids to the readers in the synagogues; 
for us they serve chiefly as marks of punctuation. 

2 In the Phenician script, Aleph and Tav, Beth and Resch, Jod and 
Zade resemble one another very closely, and in the square characters He 
and Cheth, Daleth and Resch, Vav and Nun finale are much alike, 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 219 


the thirteenth century, about 1206, Stephen Langton, who was 
Archbishop of Canterbury and died in 1228, began to divide 
the Vulgate into chapters, and he was followed by Cardinal 
Hugo a Santo Caro, who died in 1262. From the Vulgate the 
practice was applied also to the Hebrew Bible, in the fifteenth 
century. Cardinal Hugo divided each single chapter into seven 
sections, which he lettered a, b, c, d, e, f, g, in order to make 
it easier to find any required passage. This method of using 
letters of the alphabet is still employed in the missal and breviary. 
A number was prefixed to each verse first by Robert Stephanus 
(Etienne), a printer in Paris, who in 1551 brought out an 
edition of the Bible in Greek and Latin. This arrangement 
was soon universally adopted, and the verses were numbered 
then also in the Hebrew text. 

3. Long before this time, though within the Christian era, 
the Israelites had divided the books of the Bible into sections, 
which, in the case of the Pentateuch, were called Parashioth. 
These divisions were made for convenience in reading the Law 
in the synagogue; one parashe was read on every Sabbath. 

The other sacred books are also divided into sections, called 
Haphtaroth, serving a similar purpose. There are 85 of them, 
for the Haphtaroth do not include the whole text, but only 
part of it. They stand in the same relation to the Parashioth 
as our epistles to the gospels. There is besides these a division 
into sedarim, i.e. classes, rows, which is carried through the 
whole Hebrew canon. It was made by Jewish scholars to aid 
them in making grammatical and critical comments on the 
sacred text. 


Parash (wD, from parash, to divide, separate) means a section. 
The signification of Haphtarah seems to be the same, as it comes from 
patar (09, to split, divide) .* 

The Pentateuch is divided into fifty-four Parashioth, which are called 
open or closed, according as they commence at the beginning of a line or 
in the middle of it. In Hebrew Bibles we often find marks 555 ordd.0 
to denote parascha petucha = open parash, or parascha sethuma = closed 
parash, respectively. 


1 Theile, Biblia heb., § 1232, says, however, that haphtarah means dis- 
missal, because it was read at the conclusion of divine worship. Hence 
the reader is called Haphtarah maphtir = the one who dismisses. 


220 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Smaller sections are also marked with 5 or 0. Every copy of 
the Bible was most exact, agreeing with the model even in the 
number of lines and the shape of the letters. 


23. THe Masora ? 


This name is given to an ancient collection of grammatical and 
critical remarks on the Hebrew text of the Bible. They were 
originally handed down orally from generation to generation 
in the Jewish schools, but as in time the original came to be- 
long to a remote historical past, and it grew increasingly difficult 
to understand it, the danger of corruption in the text increased 
also, and consequently these notes were written down. Most 
of them contain instructions for reading the sacred text, hence 
the Masora is defined as the record, committed to writing, of the 
traditional rabbinical teaching as to the form and reading of the 
Hebrew books of the Bible. 


The scholars, who gave rise to the Masora, are called Masoretes, and 
the text corresponding with their rules is known as the Masoretic. 


Of particular importance are the Masoretic notes, which come 
under the Chaldee heading gért (= qéré =“ read” or “should 
read’) and contain corrections of the text. They were always 
written on the margin of the copies of the Bible, when, in the 
opinion of the Masoretes, something had come down to them 
in an inaccurate form. The wrong word in the text is called 
kethib (—=written). However, a géri is not always a real 
emendation of the text, for not unfrequently the kéthib shows 
the correct reading. Of minor importance, though not without 
value, are the often trivial observations on the text of the Bible 
which occur in the Masora. It notes the number of verses in 
each book, and states which is the middle word or sentence in it. 


For instance a note of this kind on Genesis is: “The number of 
verses in the book Bereschith is 1534, and the middle of it is: ‘ Thou shalt 
live by the sword’ (Gen. xxvii. 40), and the number of its Parashioth is 
12.” On Jeremias the note states that the book contains 1365 verses, and 


1 WON or AVON, masora or massora = tradition, from the Chaldee 
193, to hand down. : . 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 221 


the words “ And Ananias spoke” oceur in the middle of it. Other re- 
marks of this kind are: “In the Pentateuch there are two verses that 
begin with Samech, and eleven verses in which the first and the last letter 
is Nun. ... There are eight verses in the book in which the word 
chattaa [sin] is construed with asa [to do],” ete. The Masora actually 
states how often each letter of the alphabet occurs in the Bible, — for 
instance, that Gimel occurs 29,537 times. 


These remarks so fenced in the sacred text that afterwards 
it could not be altered, but their comparatively late origin 
diminishes the value of the notes in the Masora; none of them 
are earlier than the Christian era. Even if, since the Masora 
has existed, the Hebrew text in the hands of the Jews has 
undergone practically no alteration, yet we cannot say for cer- 
tain that at an earlier period, either soon after our Lord’s life 
or even before it, some error may not have slipped in here and 
there, which has been perpetuated forever by the Masora. That 
such errors exist appears frequently from comparison with the 
Septuagint, as well as from parallel passages in the Hebrew 
text itself. 


For instance, in Psalm exlv., which is alphabetical, the verse beginning 
with J is wanting in the Hebrew, though it exists in the Septuagint, 
Peshitto and Vulgate: mordés (}DN]) KUptos K7h. 

Joachin (Jechonias) when he ascended the throne was eight years old 
according to II Chronicles xxxvi. 9, while his age is given correctly as 
eighteen in IV Kings xxvi. 8. Cf. Kaulen I, 77, Cornill, 293, ete. 


Antiquity of the Masora. We have no trustworthy testimony 
from ancient times as to the origin of the Masora. Jewish 
scholars have asserted Moses himself to have been the author 
of the Masora, whilst Esdras subsequently added to it. The 
earlier Christian scholars believed that Esdras, and afterwards 
the Synedrium, had most to do with writing the Masora. At 
the present time the universal opinion is that it was the work 
of Jewish Rabbis, written between the fifth and ninth cen- 
turies. 

As all the notes in the Masora are not of equal importance, 
extracts have been made for the convenience of readers, and 
thus the great and the little Masora came into being. 


The Masoretic remarks, only a small part of the whole, occurring in 
the Hebrew editions of the Bible, are not pointed. Asa key to their inter- 


222 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


pretation we have the Clavis Masoretica in Theile’s editions of the Hebrew 
Bible, Leipzig. The whole Masora is printed in Bomberg’s Bible (Venice, 
1518, and in Buxtorf’s (Bale, 1619). The most recent but incomplete edi- 
tion of the Great Masora was brought out by Frensdorff, Hanover, 1867. 
The whole mass of Masoretic notes was collected by Ginsburg, 4 vols., 
London, 1880-1885. 


24. HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED EDITIONS 


As the Masoretic text is not absolutely correct, it has been 
necessary to seek means for its emendation. ‘These seemed to 
be the manuscripts dating from centuries antecedent to the 
invention of printing, and preserved here and there, especially 
in synagogues. Many of them have been collected and ex- 
amined. ‘The scholars who deserve particular recognition for 
their labors are the following: 

1. Norzi, an Israelite living at Mantua in the seventeenth 
century, collected a large number of manuscripts of the Bible 
and the Masora, and used them in preparing an edition of the 
Bible that was printed in 1742, in Mantua. 

2. Benjamin Kennicott, an Englishman, collated over 600 
of the oldest and best Hebrew manuscripts and about 40 of 
the earliest printed Bibles, for the purpose of bringing out 
a critical text-edition. This appeared in Oxford, 1776 and 1780, 
in two folio volumes. Notice was taken in it only of the 
consonants. 

3. Bernardo de Rossi, an Italian, acquired possession of about 
700 ancient Hebrew manuscripts; and in addition he collated 
many others, in order to construct a text of the greatest possible 
accuracy. He paid attention also to the pointing. The result 
of his investigations was published in his work, Varie lectiones 
Vet. Test., Parme, 1784-88. 

All these workers did not, however, attain the end that they 
desired. They had hoped by examining and comparing so many 
old manuscripts to be able to form a text differing considerably 
from the traditional Jewish version. They expected to find 
one in complete agreement with the Septuagint, from which the 
Masoretic text frequently varies, although not in the matter 
of dogmatic importance. These hopes were not fulfilled; not 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 223 


indeed because the Masoretic text is perfectly correct, but be- 
cause all the manuscripts hitherto discovered only reproduce the 
Masoretic text, as it was fixed in the early part of the Christian 
era, in accordance with older manuscripts. 


That at this time very particular attention was paid to the Hebrew 
text, probably because of the strife with Christianity, appears from 
the Talmud, which was compiled in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries. 
It contains precise rules, like those in the Masora, for preventing all cor- 
ruption of the text of the Bible. As to the date when the present Hebrew 
text was definitely fixed, the following may be said: The Septuagint and 
the Samaritan Pentateuch are based upon older versions, since they fre- 
quently differ from the Masoretic text. Onkelos and Jonathan (in the 
time of Christ) differ considerably from it; but on the other hand Aquilas, 
Theodotion and Symmachus (in the second century) show great resem- 
blance to the Masoretic text, as do the later Targumin. Saint Jerome 
used a text that was almost identical with our own. We may assume, 
therefore, that the Jews fixed their text soon after the time of the 
Apostles. Stade says that this was certainly not done until after the 
year 70, and then the work was performed in a very slipshod manner, as, 
instead of collating several texts, the compilers simply put together a 
copy of the Bible from the manuscripts that they happened to have at 
hand, and this manuscript thenceforth was the one copied and regarded 
as containing the settled text. Hence the unequal characters of the vari- 
ous books. Cornill thinks that the Jews fixed their text about the year 
90, in Jabne (Jamnia), where there was a famous school, and it was de- 
cided at that time which books should be recognized by the Jews, and 
the Greek books were rejected. Stade and Cornill base their arguments 
upon Lagarde, who tried to prove that all the Hebrew manuscripts, 
hitherto discovered, can be traced back to a single original, which was so 
absolutely regarded as the standard that every mistake and every acci- 
dental inperfection was reproduced in each copy. 

Strack does not accept this theory. 


The Hebrew manuscripts hitherto discovered are not very 
old. Most of them go back only to the twelfth century, and 
only one single manuscript, containing the prophetical books, 
has been found that goes back to 916 A.D., and one, containing 
the whole Hebrew Bible, was written in 1009. The latter was 
discovered in the Crimea, and is now in St. Petersburg.*. The 
oldest Hebrew manuscript in Germany is the so-called Reuchlin 
Codea in Carlsruhe; it was written in 1105. Hitherto no trace 
has been discovered of any manuscripts earlier than the Masoretic, 

1 In February, 1903, the news was brought from Cairo of the discovery 


of a Hebrew parchment manuscript containing the Pentateuch, written in 
735 A.D. in Samaritan (or early Semitic) characters, 


224 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


or written before the Christian era; and it would be only from 
such that we could hope to construct another text. 


Many have a date, but, where this is not the case, the age can be deter- 
mined from various indications. The manuscripts taken from synagogues 
are all rolls (volumina) and not pointed; those belonging to private per- 
sons are mostly books (codices) like our own, and contain vowels, accents 
and Masoretic notes. Cf. Cornely, Comp., p. 66. 


Of critically important printed editions of the Hebrew Bible, 
in addition to the works of the three scholars named above, the 
following deserve mention: 

1. The Alcala Bible, Complutensis,’ is a polyglot, the famous 
work of Cardinal Ximenez; it was published at Alcala in 1517. 
The Hebrew text in it is based upon manuscripts that were pur- 
chased for over 4000 golden guldens. 

2. Daniel Bomberg’s editions, which appeared at Venice from 
1518 onwards. The most famous is one that was published under 
the direction of Jacob ben Chajim, one of the most learned Jews 
of his time. ‘This and the Alcala Bible have served as the basis 
for most of the later editions. ‘They were used in the com- 
pilation of the Hebrew text of several polyglot Bibles, published 
(1) at Antwerp (1569-1572), (2) at Paris (1629-1645), and 
(3) in London (1657, etc.). The elder Buxdorf, too, based his 
edition of the Bible (Bale, 1618 and 1619) upon Bomberg. 

3. An amended version of Chajim’s text is contained in 
Johann Leusden’s edition, printed at Amsterdam in 1661 by 
Joseph Athias, and also in Everard van der Hought’s edition, 
Amserdam, 1705. Upon the latter are based two more modern 
smaller editions, viz., Hahn’s, Leipsig, 1839, and Theile’s, Leip- 
zig, 1849. 

4. Bar’s editions, containing all the Hebrew books of. the 
Old Testament (Leipzig, 1869-1892), were prepared with the 
use of the Masora, some good manuscripts and the best printed 
editions.? 


* Complutum is the older name of Alcalé in Spain. 

7 The Hebrew text of the Psalms, with Saint Jerome’s Latin transla 
tion made directly from it, was edited in 1876 by Biir, Delitzsch and 
Tischendorf. Of. with it Ik. Ecker, Psalterium juxta Hebreos Hieronymi, 
Tréves, 1906; a valuable work on the textual criticism of the Psalms. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 225 


A new edition of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, with critical 
notes by P. Haupt of Baltimore, has been appearing since 1893, pub- 
lished by Hinrichs at Leipzig. The edition is the result. of many years’ 
work, and many German and English scholars have collaborated in its 
preparation. The “ genuine ” and “ spurious” passages are distinguished 
by the use of ink of various colors. Thus Genesis, for instance, is in 
eight colors, Josue seven, Esdras and Nehemias nine, and Chronicles in 
four. Hence the book is known as the “ Rainbow Bible.” Among the 
collaborators may be mentioned Cornill, Kautzsch, Stade and Wellhausen. 


25. VALUE OF THE MaAsorEetTIC TExT 


In the early centuries of Christianity it was often said that the 
Jews had falsified the Hebrew text, in order to supply them- 
selves with a weapon against the Christians, and that this was 
apparent from the Septuagint version. Justin Martyr and 
Origen, especially, brought such charges against the Jews, but 
Saint Jerome decidedly refused to admit any such suspicion, 
and no one in fact has succeeded with any certainty in proving 
the presence in the text of a single intentional falsification. 

On the whole, the Masoretic text deserves great respect (cf. 
Leo XIII on the Holy Scriptures, above, p. 167). At the same 
time it cannot claim that its accuracy is above all criticism, as 
has already been shown (p. 220). It is very probable that be- 
fore the Masoretic text was fixed, and whilst the Septuagint 
was most esteemed by the Jews, the original text underwent 
somewhat careless treatment. This appears not only on com- 


* In Psalm xxi. 17 the reading kaari instead of kaaru, which the 
Septuagint read, is, however, very suspicious. According to the Septua- 
gint, the passage means: “They have pierced my hands and my feet”; 
according to the Masoretic text: “ As a lion my hands and feet.” There 
must have been a verb in the passage, perhaps 18) (IND= 133) or 313 
or 392 (from 173) = they have pierced, or 4180 (from 18D, to dig 
through). 

On the ground of the resemblance between Aleph and Tav in the 
ancient script, F. Perles (Analekten zur Textkritik des A. T., 1895) pro- 
poses to read 19/3 = “ they have shut in.” But what would be the mean- 
ing of “they have shut in my hands and feet”? There is a similar pas- 
sage in Psalm cx. 3, where the allusion undoubtedly is to the eternal 
generation of the Messias. The Septuagint read “ from the womb before 
the daystar I begot thee,” but the Masoretic text “from the womb of the 
sky in the morning [comes] to thee the dew of thy youth,” which has no 
sense at all. 


226 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


paring it with the text of the Septuagint, but also from the 
Samaritan Pentateuch, which is of very early origin, as it is 
still written in Phoenician characters; in many places it agrees 
with the Septuagint rather than with the Masoretic text. 
This text, therefore, and then the early translations (Septua- 
gint and Peshitto especially) are of assistance in criticising 
and correcting the present Hebrew text.* 


26. Tuer ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE GREEK BOOKS OF 
THE BIBLE 


The Greek books of the Bible came into existence at a less 
remote period than the Hebrew books, but nevertheless the 
originals, and earliest copies of them also, have long been lost. 
The originals were no longer extant in the third century as 
is plain from the writings of Origen, Clement of Alexandria 
and Tertullian,? who complain of difficulties occurring in their 
copies of the Bible, and of their having to take pains to dis- 
cover the correct text by comparing parallel passages and other 
means. Had the originals still existed, it would have been quite 
simple for these writers to consult them, or to employ others 
to do so. Tertullian especially would have been able to save 
himself a great deal of trouble if he could have appealed to 
the originals against Marcion, who tampered with the Bible. 

The early loss of the originals is probably due to want of 
durability in the Egyptian vegetable paper, which was uni- 
versally used for writing purposes in the time of our Lord 
and the Apostles. Cf. II John 12. “ Having more things to 
write unto you, I would not by paper and ink, for I hope that 
I shall be with you.” Many manuscripts perished, too, during 
the persecutions of the Christians. In spite of all this, how- 


* In translating the Bible even Luther preferred the Greek text to the 
Masoretic, but he did so apparently not so much because he thought the 
latter less valuable as because Hebrew was not his strong point. 

* Reference is occasionally made to Tertullian, De Prescript., ec. 35, 
where he states that the Apostles’ authentice still existed in his time at 
Corinth, Philippi, etc. The word, however, does not mean the Apostles’ 
autograph writings, but only the Greek text as distinguished from the 
Latin translation. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 227 


ever, an attempt to ascertain the correct text is much easier in 
the case of the Greek books than in that of the Hebrew, as we 
still possess ancient Greek manuscripts dating from the early 
centuries. Moreover, the oldest translations are very useful in 
helping us to determine the text, and the numerous biblical 
quotations occurring in the writings of the Fathers and ecclesi- 
astical authors serve the same purpose. Quotations are not 
a very safe guide, as early writers generally quoted from mem- 
ory, and consequently rendered the text inaccurately. 


27%. Tue GREEK MANUSCRIPTS 


In the period immediately following the invention of printing, 
whenever a Bible was to be produced the first manuscript that 
came to hand was printed; and the more the Bibles were 
distributed the more did they seem to differ. The spirit of 
rivalry, however, constrained scholars to have recourse to older 
and more numerous manuscripts, and thus in course of time 
many old manuscripts were brought to light and used. 

The older a manuscript the greater is its value, as it stands 
closer to the original, and there is less fear of corruption in 
the text, which very easily, though it may be unintentionally, 
creeps in when a book is frequently copied. 

All the ancient Greek manuscripts of the Bible that have 
hitherto been discovered are in book form (codices); rolls 
(volumina) have not so far been found. All (with the sole 
exception of the codex Q. Paul.) are written on parchment. 
It was only after the Crusades that paper made of linen gradu- 
ally came into use. 


The word parchment is derived from Pergamus, the name of a town in 
Asia Minor, where the art of preparing writing material from the skins 
of animals was particularly well understood. Parchment was costly, but 
it had the advantage of being durable, so that when it was used the 
great trouble and expense of frequently copying the sacred books were 
avoided and the risk of originating mistakes was diminished. Vegetable 
paper is less durable, and the results of using it had been unsatisfactory. 


The kind of writing employed in the old manuscripts of 
the Bible differs very much from our own. The ancients did 


228 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


not distinguish small letters and capitals, and until the tenth 
century they always wrote with what are called wncials or 
majuscules, i.e. the letters resembled our capitals and were 
not connected with one another. Minuscules came into use 
only in the tenth century, and thus all the oldest manuscripts are 
uncials.1_ Moreover, ancient writers did not divide their words, 
and employed no punctuation or accents. In order, however, 
to make it easier for the reader to survey the whole, they did 
not write in extenso, but each page of parchment was divided 
into three or four columns. .After the fifth century the sticho- 
metric mode of writing came into use, in which as much of 
the text was written on one line as was to be read in one breath; 
this was called a otfyos.? Later on, in order to economize 
space on the costly material, the end of each oriéyos was marked 
with a dot or a little stroke, and the writing was continued in 
the same line. This was the origin of punctuation. Greek 
accents came into general use only after the seventh century.* 
In some manuscripts, both profane and biblical, it is possible 
to see that the accents have been added by a later hand, and 
were not inserted by the original writer. The text began to be 
divided into words in the ninth century. Its division into chap- 
ters and verses is recent, as has been shown on page 218; the 
division into chapters dates from the thirteenth, into verses 
from the sixteenth century. 


28, Tur Most IMPORTANT GREEK MANUSCRIPTS 


The number of ancient Greek manuscripts of the Bible 
hitherto discovered amounts to about 4000.4 They have not 


1 Intere unciales, literally, letters measuring an ineh. Liter@ ma- 
juscule, minuscule, large, small letters. 

* orixos = arrangement, row, member, division. 

° They were intended originally to serve the same sort of purpose as 
the vowel points in Hebrew, viz. they were to preserve the Greek pronunci- 
ation, which was in danger of being lost, as ancient Greek was gradually 
dying out. 

* Nestle follows Serivener in giving the number as 3829, but he adds 
“most of these are, however, recent.” Among them are 127 uncials and 
3702 minuscules. Only 30 belong to a period prior to the seventh cen- 
tury. This refers primarily to the New Testament, 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 229 


yet all been thoroughly examined or printed. It is likely that 
treasures may still be discovered in various places, particularly 
in the East, but also in Spain and Italy. 

The manuscripts are often only fragments, written on parch- 
ment that has been used to bind other books. Sometimes the 
Bible text has been obliterated, and other works copied on the 
same sheets of parchment. Such remains are called codices 
rescriplt, or palimpsests. When the sheets have been used in 
this way, they have often been separated and fastened together 
again in different order. 


Tlakiuwnords = rubbed off again (Yaw = to wipe, rub). The original 
writing was wiped or rubbed off, and the parchment then smoothed with 
pumice stone to make it fit for use again. The old writing is sometimes 
still legible, but sometimes it has to be revived by means of chemicals. 
Often it remains illegible, and occasionally the chemicals employed injure 
the parchment and the writing with it. 

For the sake of brevity, uncial manuscripts are generally designated 
by Greek and Latin capital letters, and recently Hebrew letters have also 
been used; minuscule manuscripts are numbered. Indices are added to 
the capital letters to distinguish the manuscripts. Thus J is a palimp- 
sest from Palestine, now in St. Petersburg; Jb is a manuscript in the 
British Museum; 51 is a minuscule manuscript in Oxford; 422 to 430 
are minuscles at Munich. To the books of pericope also Arabic num- 
bers are assigned, as Evl. 45 in Vienna (a book of the Gospels). 


The chief Greek manuscripts are the following: 

1. The Codex Vaticanus, B. It is in the Vatican Library in 
Rome. It contains the whole of the Old and New Testaments, 
with some very small omissions. It is written in three columns 
and came probably from Egypt, dating from about the time of 
the First Council of Nicwa (325). 


Several printed editions of this manuscript have appeared, but they 
are not all free from mistakes. The Old Testament was printed in Rome 
in 1587, by order of Sixtus V. August Mai published the whole codex in 
1858, and Vercellone brought out a more accurate edition in 1881 in 
Rome. 

The New Testament was published by Loch at Ratisbon, in 1862, and 
by Tischendorf at Leipzig, in 1867. An edition of the New Testament, 
reproduced by photolithography was brought out by Cozza-Luzi in Rome, 
1889, and a similar edition of the Old Testament in 1890. We owe this 
magnificent work to Pope Leo XIII. As some defects could still be. de- 
tected, Pius X has determined that a still more accurate phototype edi- 
tion shall be prepared, which will enable every student to see the exact 
form of Codex B. 


230 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


2. The Codex Sinaiticus, designated & by its discoverer. 
It was found by Constantine Tischendorf on February 4, 
1859, in Saint Catherine’s monastery on Mount Sinai. It con- 
tains almost the whole of the Old and New Testaments in 
Greek, and is written in four columns. This codex, like the 
preceding, belongs probably to the fourth century. It is now 
in St. Petersburg. 

Tischendorf believes this manuscript to be older than the Vatican 
Codex, but others doubt its being so old. It was printed at St. Peters- 
burg in 1862; and the New Testament was published separately by 


Tischendorf at Leipzig in 1863, under the title, Novum Testamentum 
Sinaiticum. 


3. The Codex Alexandrinus, A, in the British Museum in 
London. It was found on Mount Athos and given to King 
Charles I of England in 1628 by the Patriarch Cyrillus Lucaris. 
It dates from the fifth century. 

A printed edition of the Old Testament, by Baber, appeared in 1816- 
1828; one of the New Testament by Cowper, in London, 1860. The miss- 


ing portions have been supplied from R. Stephanus. A photolithographic 
reproduction of this important codex has existed since 1883. 


4. Codex C, also called Regius or Parisiensis, or Ephremi 
rescriplus, belongs to the same period. It is in the National 
Library in Paris. 

Originally it contained the whole Old and New Testaments, but in the 
tenth or eleventh century the writing was obliterated, and the parchment 
used for a copy of some works of Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Much of 
what was written first has in this way become illegible. About two hun- 


dred leaves are left, containing the greater part of the New Testament. 
It was printed by Tischendorf, 1843 and 1845. 


5. Codex s. Matthet Dublinensis rescriptus, Z. This con- 
tains the greater part of Saint Matthew’s Gospel, and serves 
to fill up the voids in other manuscripts. It resembles C, and 
seems to belong to the same period. 


As the name suggests, it is now in Dublin, and was printed there in 
1801. 


The following manuscripts are stichometric: 
6. Codex Beze or Cantabrigiensis, D, belongs probably to 
the sixth century. It was found in a monastery in Lyons, and 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 231 


came into the possession of Theodore Beza, one of the reformers, 
who presented it in 1581 to the University of Cambridge. 

This manuscript differs from the other texts in a very remarkable 
way. As it was found at Lyons, and exactly agrees with the quotations 
made by Saint Irenzus from the Bible, it seems to be based upon a copy 


belonging to this bishop (177-202). It has received great attention re- 
cently. It was printed by Scrivener in 1864. 


%. Codex Laudianus, E, contains the Acts of the Apostles. 
It is named after the Enghsh Archbishop William Laud, to 
whom it belonged in the seventeenth century. It dates probably 
from the sixth century and is now at Oxford. 

8. Codex Claramontanus, D,, belongs to the sixth century, 
and contains the ‘Pauline epistles. It is now in Paris, and was 
printed by Tischendorf, Leipzig, 1852. It was brought from the 
north of Africa, and contains a list of the canonical books (see 
above, page 206). 

9. Codex Rossanensis, =, found at Rossano in Calabria. It 
belongs to the sixth century and contains Saint Matthew’s and 
Saint Mark’s Gospels.? 


29. GREEK PRINTED EDITIONS 


(a) Cardinal Ximenez in Spain, the editor of the Poly- 
glotta Complutensis, was the first to have the Bible printed in 
Greek. His work contains the whole of the Old Testament in 
Greek, according to manuscripts of the Septuagint translation, 
and also the New Testament, which is based on several Greek 
manuscripts. The Greek text was printed in 1514. 

Almost at the same time Erasmus of Rotterdam edited the 
New Testament in Greek at the instigation of the great printer, 
Frobenius, at Bale. His text is defective, as, in order to out- 
strip the Cardinal, he worked very fast, and used only a few 


1 This codex was only discovered in 1879. It is also called Codex 
purpureus, because the parchment leaves are dyed purple, and the letters 
are written in gold and silver. It is of artistic and liturgical impor- 
tance on account of the miniatures in it. Another purple codex of the 
sixth century, containing a large portion of Saint Matthew’s Gospel, and 
agreeing in its text precisely with =, was discovered recently at Sinope 
in Pontus and placed in the National Library in Paris. 


232 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


newer manuscripts. Robert Stephanus (Etienne), the great 
printer in Paris, in 1546 and subsequent years, brought out 
several editions of the New Testament in Greek. ‘These were 
based on those of Erasmus and Cardinal Ximenes, also on Codex 
D and some later manuscripts. 


The fourth edition, published in 1551, was the first in which the verses 
were divided. 


Stephanus’s editions, with a few manuscripts and some old 
Oriental translations, formed the foundation of a Greek edition 
of the New Testament that was the work of Th. Beza, the re- 
former. This appeared first in 1565, and was reprinted several 
times. ; 

Great but undeserved attention was paid to the Greek editions 
of the New Testament that were published by the Elzevir 
Brothers at Leyden, in and after 1624. They contain the text 
of the Stephanus and Beza editions, which has many defects, 
but as they boldly proclaimed it to be generally accepted and 
perfectly free from mistakes (textum ab omnibus receptum) it 
was held in the highest honor among Protestants for nearly 
200 years, and was circulated in innumerable reprints. At the 
present time it is not considered important, but it retains the 
name teatus receptus, or editio recepta.* 

(b) The polyglot Bibles published during the seventeenth 
century in Antwerp (by Plantin), Paris and London, are 
modeled on the Alcala Bible, and, as far as the Greek text 
is concerned, are derived from the following sources: The Ant- 
werp polyglot follows the Complutensis; the Paris polyglot 
simply reprints the Greek text from the Antwerp edition; the 
London polyglot follows the text of the Septuagint as printed 
in Rome in 1587, and for the New Testament it adopts that of ~ 
Robert Stephanus. 

Two German scholars, Bengel and Griesbach, deserve espe: 
cial mention as editors of the Greek text of the New Testa- 
ment during the eighteenth century. They used many old 
manuscripts and produced a text differing considerably from 


* Even the English Bible Society in its most recent editions has sub- 
stituted Nestle’s text for the recepta. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 233 


the recepta. However, the recepta was not set aside, though 
it lost some of its prestige. 

Bengel’s edition appeared first in 1734 and Griesbach’s in 1775. 

They divided the existing manuscripts into families, according to 
their place of origin, — Constantinople and Syria, Egypt, or the West. 
They cared less for the number of manuscripts than for the agreement 
of the different families. A reading was considered correct if it was sup- 
ported by all the families, and the consensus of two families preponder- 
ated over a third. This classification has been upheld even to the pres- 
ent time, especially by Westcott. and Hort (see below) and the principle 
has been further developed. 


(c) In recent years excellent work has been done by some 
English and German scholars on the text of the New Testament. 
We may mention: Karl Lachmann, died in Berlin, 1851; Con- 
stantine Tischendorf, died in Leipzig, 1874; Bernard Weiss 
(Berlin); C. R. Gregory (Leipzig); Tregelles, died in Eng- 
tand, 1875; Westcott and Hort (in England). 

Lachmann started with the principle that our aim should be, 
not being guided by the recepta, to restore the text to the state 
in which it was in the fourth century, as we have no means of 
discovering the original, and as a text of that century can have 
differed only slightly from it. He hoped that other subse- 
quent workers might gradually be able to restore the text 
approximately as it was in the second century. His text is 
based chiefly upon six or eight of the earliest Greek manu- 
scripts and upon the Itala. His edition of the New Testament 
appeared first in 1831, and again in 1842 and 1850. 

Tischendorf did not regard Lachmann’s method as satis- 
factory, and thought that we possessed means of going back 
beyond the fourth century and of very nearly discovering the 
original text. He used not only all the manuscripts that he 
could get, but also translations and quotations of the Fathers. 
His critical edition of the New Testament appeared first in 
1841 and 1842; the eighth edition in 1869-1890. (Pocket 
edition, sixteenth edition, 1887.) 

Tregelles, an English philologist, was a Quaker. He adhered 
to Lachmann’s principle as a general rule, but his apparatus 
criticus was far more extensive. His edition appeared in seven 
parts between 1857 and 1879. Still more accurate is the edition 


234 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


prepared by two Englishmen, Westcott and Hort. It appeared 
in 1881 and has no references to original sources, but the value 
of all the critical apparatus collected up to that time is assigned 
according to Griesbach and Lachmann’s principles. These guid- 
ing principles are expounded in a special volume bearing the 
title “‘ Introduction,” 1882.1 

A new and independent revision of the Greek text of the New 
Testament has been brought out in three volumes by Bernhard 
Weiss (Berlin, 1894-1900). 


A new method of arriving, if not at the original text at least as near 
as possible to it, was devised by Hermann Freiherr von Soden in Berlin. 
The text had hitherto been taken from the earliest uncial manuscripts (by 
Tischendorf also), but von Soden, with the assistance of several friends, 
tried to trace the alterations in it, and in this way to approach the 
original. They examined 1716 manuscripts of the Gospels; 521 con- 
taining Acts and the Catholic Epistles; 628 containing Saint Paul’s 
Epistles; and 219 containing the Apocalypse; and they studied, besides 
these, many of the earliest commentaries, to which but little attention 
had previously been paid. In this way they ascertained that the oldest 
Greek codices (B and &) represent a revised version of an earlier text. 
Instead of following the traditional custom of designating the majus- 
cules by capital letters and the minuscules by Arabic numerals, Soden 
prefers a very much simpler method of using the small letters of the 
Greek alphabet and the Arabic numerals, in which he will perhaps find 
others to imitate him. For further information see his work, Die 
Schriften des N. T. in threr dltesten erreichbaren Textgestalt, Berlin, 
1902, 1903. 

The labors of these students have almost completely destroyed the 
reputation of the recepta, whilst they have established the purity of the 
Vulgate text.’ 


* Westcott and Hort distinguish four classes of texts: (a) the primi- 
tive text, as it left the author’s hands; (b) a text originating in Alex- 
andria; (c) a text originating in Constantinople; (d) a text brought 
from Syria to the West before 200 A.D. 

* A good and at the same time inexpensive edition is O. v. Gebhardt’s 
New Testament, Leipzig, 1895, based on Tischendorf, Tregelles, and West- 
cott and Hort. It does not, however, satisfy Catholic requirements on 
account of Mark xvi. 9, etc., and John viii. 3, ete. Mention may be 
made of Nestle’s cheap edition (3d ed., 1901, Stuttg.) and of Wey- 
mouth’s (London, 1892). Tauchnitz in Leipzig has published a very 
convenient Greek and Latin edition, revised in accordance with Gries- 
bach, Lachmann and Tischendorf. It has been approved by the Catholic 
Consistory in Dresden. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 235 


SECOND SECTION 
TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE 
30. GENERAL REMARKS 


Translations of the books of the Bible from the original into 
another language are of importance, not only as enabling us 
to ascertain the correct text, but also as aids in interpreting the 
Bible, for we see from them how early readers understood the 
meaning of the original. All translations are not of equal value. 
As a rule, those made from the original surpass those made 
from another translation in importance and authority; literal 
translations deserve consideration more than free; and, above 
all, the old translations have more weight than later ones. 
Hence particular importance is attached to such as were made 
before the seventh century. 

Karly translations are fairly numerous. ‘There are several 
Greek and Chaldee translations (of the Old Testamert); a 
Samaritan version (of the Pentateuch), some Syriac, several 
Arabic, one Armenian, one Persian, some Egyptian (Coptic), 
one Ethiopian, one Slavonic, one Georgian, one Gothic, several 
Latin and fragments of an Anglo-Saxon version. 

The most important are the Greek, Syriac and Latin trans- 
lations. 


GREEK TRANSLATIONS 


31. SEPTUAGINT 


At the time of Christ and His Apostles the Holy Scriptures 
were mostly read in a Greek translation made in Egypt for 
the use of the Jews there. Outside Palestine, and to some 
extent in Palestine itself, the Jews used this version when they 
read the Scriptures in the synagogues on the Sabbath. From 
many quotations in the New Testament it is clear that the 
Apostles were more familiar with this translation than with the 
Hebrew text, which did not contain all the sacred books; and, 
when they converted pagans to Christianity, they gave this ver- 


236 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


sion to their converts. Testimony to the respect paid to this 
translation, and to its universal use, is borne by Josephus Flavius 
(who always used it himself in his writings), and by Justin 
Martyr, who, in his conversation with the Jew Tryphon, shows 
that among the Jews this translation was still accepted in the 
second century, when he lived (see above, p. 201). 

The name Septuagint (LXX) is due to an old story preserved 
by Josephus Flavius (Antig., XII, 11. 1, etc.), and by the ecclesi- 
astical historian Eusebius (Prep. Hv., vill. 2). It originated in 
a letter written by Aristeas, an official at the Egyptian court, to 
his brother Philocrates, in which Aristeas says that Demetrius 
Phalereus, chief librarian at the royal library at Alexandria, 
advised his master, King Ptolemy Philadelphus, to add the 
Jewish law to the treasures in his hbrary. The king was 
pleased with the advice, and in order to procure the book of the 
law, he set 200,000 Jews at liberty, and then sent some men, 
amongst whom was Aristeas himself, with costly presents to 
Jerusalem, in order to fetch the book from the high priest. 
The latter not only gave the book to the envoys, but sent seventy- 
two learned Jews to Egypt to translate the Thora. 'They were 
received honorably in Egypt, and sent with Demetrius Phalereus 
to the neighboring island of Pharos, where they worked at their 
translation undisturbed. According to the story, each man 
was shut up alone in a cell, and made a translation by himself, 
but when all the results were compared, they were found to be 
exactly the same. 

In ancient times this story was universally regarded as true, 
but it cannot be correct in every detail, for it contains fabulous 
additions. The truth probably is that the translation was made 
by Jews in Alexandria, and supplied an existing need, as the 
Kgyptian Jews mostly did not understand Hebrew. An Egyp- 
tian king, probably not Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247), who 
banished Demetrius Phalereus soon after his accession, but, 
according to Clement of Alexandria (Strom., I, 22), his father, 
Ptolemy Lagi (323-285), admitted the Greek version of the 
Jewish law into his library. This occurrence, flattering to the 
Jews, has been connected with the production of the translation. 
Possibly the fact that the sacred writings had been rendered 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 237 


into a heathen language displeased some Jews, and a story was 
invented to calm their indignation. 

In any case the report about the translation of the LXX ap- 
plies only to the Pentateuch. The other sacred books were 
gradually translated into Greek in Egypt, and therefore the 
same name of the LXX was given to them also. 

The date of the beginning of the translation may be given 
as about 300 B.c. Probably it was prior to 286, i.e. to the 
establishment of the library at Alexandria, for there were many 
Jews in Egypt ever since the time of Alexander the Great. 
By 200 3B.c. the translation must have been nearly completed, 
as the translator of the Book of Sirach (Kcclesiasticus) knew 
a Greek text “of the Law and the Prophets and the other 
books,” and mentions it frequently in his prologue.* 

Character of the Translation. It is, on the whole, faithful 
and often almost slavishly literal. The Alexandrians frequently 
translated the Hebrew text word for word; and in this way 
their language became very barbarous, beside often distorting 
the meaning. 


The Pentateuch is best translated, and next in order of merit are the 
books of Josue, Judges, Ruth, Chronicles and Proverbs. Less to be com- 
mended is the translation of the four books of Kings, and of Esdras, 
Nehemias and Esther. Ecclesiastes is translated too literally, Job too 
arbitrarily. The Psalms and the prophetic writings are unsatisfactory, 
and the worst translation is that of the Book of Daniel, for which reason 
the Chureh did not admit the Septuagint version of this prophet into 
the Canon, but a later rendering by Theodotion.’ 


Taken as a whole, this translation was and still is of inesti- 
mable value. As the first rendering of the written word of 
God from the little known Hebrew into the widely diffused 
Greek language, it was the first and oldest instrument by which 
the civilized nations could learn God’s special revelation. The 
Jews carried this version to the east and to the west, thus 
preparing the way for the Apostles, preaching and supporting 


* His prologue shows that he wrote primarily only for Jews, and not, 
as Loch and Reischl suppose, also for Gentiles. 

2 The Septuagint text of Daniel was consequently lost, and was only 
recovered in the eighteenth century. It was printed in Rome in 1772, 
and it is given in the appendix to Tischendorf’s edition of the Septuagint. 


238 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


it. For us it is valuable, because it forms an excellent means 
for us to control the Masoretic text, and to understand the 
sacred books. In the Church it has always been highly es- 
teemed, and not a few of the Fathers considered it to be inspired. 
Many old translations are based upon the LXX, such as the 
Itala, the Coptic, the Ethiopian and the Armenian versions. 
The Jews pay no attention to it at the present time, but that 
is due to their hostility towards the Church; at the time of 
Christ and still later, it was valued very highly by the Jews, 
even in Palestine, and it was the work of Jews for Jews. ‘The 
Talmud mentions it frequently with respect. 


32. OTHER GREEK 'T'RANSLATIONS 


After Christianity was fairly established, the diffusion of the 
Holy Scriptures increased. Christians had to defend their 
faith against both Jews and pagans; and in doing so they 
generally appealed to the Septuagint to prove that the prophe- 
cies of the Old Testament had found their fulfillment in Christ. 
The Jews now often had recourse to the evasive answer that 
this text was not trustworthy, and only the original ought to 
be relied upon. They maintained that the LXX writers had 
not been sufficiently faithful in their translation, and for this 
reason new translations seemed to be required, although there 
was plainly no ground for the Jews’ complaints, as the LXX 
version is only too literal. 

1. It was probably from motives of hostility to Christians 
that in the second century Aguilas of Sinope in Pontus, a 
Jewish proselyte, made a translation following the Hebrew so 
slavishly as to violate all the rules of Greek grammar. For 
instance, he rendered Genesis i. 1:’Ev ceharatp éxticev 0 Geos 
ovY TOV OUpavoY Kal avy THY yHV. Several passages favorable 
to Christianity he translated differently from the LXX, al- 
though their version was correct. For instance, in Isaias vii. 
14, he rendered alma not by mrap@évos, as the LXX did, but by 
veavis. His work was warmly welcomed by the Jews, and the 
Talmud praises it and calls it the Targum Agilas. 

2. Theodolion, an Ebionite from Ephesus, was the next to 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 239 


translate the Old Testament into Greek. His work resembles 
the LXX, and he retained that text whenever, in his opinion, 
Ww gave a correct rendering of the Hebrew, and he translated 
only when the LXX appeared altogether misleading, as, e. g., in 
Daniel. His intention was therefore to revise the LXX. His 
translation was held in more esteem by the Christians than 
that of Aquilas, and his version of the Book of Daniel was 
admitted to the Canon of Holy Scripture. Theodotion lived 
in the second century, and Ireneus, writing in 176, knew his 
work (Adv. hereses, III, 24). 

3. Symmachus, another Ebionite, made a translation some- 
what later. Regarding his date we know with certainty that 
he wrote after Ireneus and before Origen, as the latter knew 
his work, but the former did not. He seems to have written 
before 200 a.D., perhaps in the reign of Marcus Aurelius the 
Philosopher (161-180).1. The old writers who mention his 
translations, say at the same time that they are freer than those 
of his predecessors; he tried to write good Greek, to remove 
whatever there was in earlier translations offensive to Western 
ears, and to avoid what seemed foreign. He cared more for the 
thoughts than the words. Saint Jerome praises his version and 
undoubtedly often took Symmachus as his model for his own 
works, for it is impossible not to perceive a similarity between 
their versions. When Origen was working at the Bible, he 
found three other translations besides the four already men- 
tioned, and numbered them 5, 6 and 7. Consequently they 
are known as quinta, sexta, septiuma. None of them seems to 
have contained the whole of the Old Testament. 


Only fragments of all the translations other than the LXX have come 
down to us. They were collected by Montfaucon, a Maurist, Origenis 
Hexaplorum que supersunt, Paris, 1713, 2 vols., fol. This work has 
been superseded by Field’s Origenis Hexaplorum que supersunt, Oxonii, 
1871-75, 2 vols., 4to. 


1 Mercati, L’eta di Simmaco, Freibg., 1893. The only authority is 
Epiphanius (De Ponderibus et Mensuris, c, 16, 17), who assigns him to 
this period, but he is not trustworthy. 


240 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


33. LATER HISTORY OF THE SEPTUAGINT. ORIGEN 


The more the Septuagint was used by Christians, the more 
did its reputation among the Jews diminish, until at last their 
dislike amounted to hatred and horror.t~ Christians, however, 
read this text, handed down to them by the Apostles and the 
first preachers of the faith, in their meetings for public wor- 
ship, just as they read the writings of the Apostles. As the 
Christian communities became more numerous, copies of this 
book had to be multplied, and no ancient work was so fre- 
quently copied. ‘The very fact of its wide diffusion was harmful 
to the text; many various readings crept in as a result of its 
being so often copied, and many persons who possessed Bibles, 
especially if they understood Hebrew, ventured to make a 
slight alteration here and there, which was perpetuated when 
the manuscript was copied. The condition of the copies of the 
Bible caused anxiety and sorrow to many Christians, particu- 
larly to scholars, as they had to hear the Jews assert, in argu- 
ments respecting the faith, that the very book from which 
Christian doctrines should be proved and Jewish errors refuted 
was devoid of all authority, as it often differed from the Hebrew 
text, and the various Greek versions of it did not agree with 
one another. (The mistake was made of setting too high a 
value on the Hebrew text, and of assuming that it was quite 
free from errors.) 

In order to put an end to these reproaches, Origen, a learned 
Alexandrian, undertook a very comprehensive work on the Bible, 
and collated the various texts. ‘This work, known as the 
Hexapla, was completed in 231. Origen’s system of arrange- 
ment was the following: 

He divided the rolls of manuscript into six columns, or, in 
dealing with some books of the Bible, into seven, eight or 
even nine. In the first he wrote the Hebrew text in Hebrew 
letters; in the second the same text in Greek characters; in 
the third the literal translation, viz., that of Aquilas; in the 

1 Later Jews mourned over the existence of the LXX as over the wor- 


ship of the golden calf, and said that darkness had enveloped the earth 
for three days, when this work was completed. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 241 


fourth that of Symmachus; in the fifth the Septuagint version, 
and in the sixth that of Theodotion. In the case of some 
books other columns were added, containing the quinta, sexta 
and septuna, so that these parts of the whole may be called 
heptapla, octapla and enneapla respectively. In the fifth column, 
containing the Septuagint, Origen inserted definite marks, in- 
tended to show exactly the relation between that version and 
the original. If he found something added in the LXX that 
was absent in the Hebrew text, he marked it with an obelus —~, 
signifying that it ought to be omitted; if he detected some- 
thing left out, he supplied it, generally from Theodotion, mark- 
ing it with an asterisk * and naming the source whence he had 
taken what was missing. A metobelus (~~) marked the end of 
the passage to which the other marks applied. 

This great work being of the highest value was received with 
approval and diligently used. On account of its bulkiness it 
could not be reproduced, and had to be studied and consulted 
at Caesarea in Palestine, where it was kept. Extracts from it 
were, however, made: (1) Origen himself prepared the so-called 
Tetrapla; i.e. an arrangement of the four best known transla- 
tions (LXX, Aquilas, Theodotion and Symmachus) in four 
parallel columns. This enabled the Christians to see where 
they could safely rely upon the LXX without fear of contra- 
diction, as the other translations gave them valuable indications, 
and Aquilas was almost a substitute for the original text. (2) 
At a later date Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea, the well-known 
writer on “ Church History,” and his friend, Pamphilus, had the 
Septuagint text, with all Origen’s marks and emendations, copied 
from the fifth column of the Hezapla, and these copies were 
approved by the Church in Palestine. Thus the Hezapla and 
Tetrapla fell out of use, and only fragments of them are 
extant (see p. 239). 





Additional Notes. 1. Origen was not the only scholar of antiquity 
who undertook to revise the Alexandrian text. The same was done by 
Lucian, a priest and afterwards a martyr (312 a.p.) in Antioch, and by 
the Egyptian Hesychius, who also suffered martyrdom in 31ll. They 
studied the Hebrew text, but referred also to early manuscripts of the 
LXX. Lucian’s revision was used in many congregations in Asia (not 
in Palestine) and in Eastern Europe; Hesychius’, in Egypt. 


242 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


2. The Alexandrian translation has been preserved in several old 
manuscripts. The codices B, 8 and A (ef. Cornill, 302), which have 
been already mentioned, contain probably the purest text. The small 
editions brought out by Loch (2d ed., Ratisbon, 1886) and Tischen- 
dorf (7th ed., Leipzig, 1887) are based upon printed editions of these 
three codices. L. van Ess, Vetus Test. gr. juata 70 interpretes, Leipz., 
1824, 1855, 1887, is printed from the Roman edition of Codex B, 1587 (see 
above, p. 229). 

In 1883 P. v. Lagarde published in Géttingen the first volume of an 
editions already mentioned, contain probably the purest text. The small 
inclusive, but unhappily no other volume appeared. The text is that of 
Lucian, which is given also in the Complutensian Polyglot. Between 
1887 and 1895 a very carefully prepared edition of the Septuagint in 
three volumes was published in Cambridge, and a second revised edition 
was printed, 1895-1899, under the title “ The Old Testament in Greek,” 
by H. Barclay Swete. Also by Swete is an excellent “ Introduction 
to the Old Testament in Greek,” with an appendix containing the letter 
of Aristeas (Cambridge, 1900). 

3. Origen’s autograph still existed at Cesarea until after 600 a.D., 
but it disappeared when the Arabs conquered Palestine. Not long be- 
fore its disappearance the Monophysite Bishop Paul of Tella translated 
at Alexandria (617) the fifth column of the LXX quite literally into 
Syriac, inserting all the critical marks (see p. 246). By aid of this 
translation it is not difficult to restore the Greek text. This Syriac 
version has been preserved in a manuscript of the eighth century now 
in the Ambrosian Library at Milan. A photolithographic reproduction 
of it was published by Ceriani in 1874.7 


34. CHALDEE TRANSLATIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
(TARGUMIM) # 


When Hebrew ceased to be a living language, it was found 
necessary to translate the Bible into Chaldee. As early as the 


* A small portion of the Hexapla, not including the first column for 
Hebrew in Hebrew characters, has been found in a palimpsest in the 
Ambrosiana at Milan. The discoverer was Dr. Mercati, mentioned on 
p. 239. The manuscript dates from the tenth century, and contains the 
Hexapla of eleven Psalms. It is written in minuscules. The discovery 
is important for several reasons; e.g. for the reading of the Hebrew in 
the early centuries of the Christian era, i.e. in the time before the 
Masora was written, and also for the criticisms on the text of those par- 
ticular Psalms. An account of it was given by Ceriani in the Rendi- 
conti of the Lombard Literary Institute, Ser. II, vol. 29. The collections 
made by Montfaucon and Field (see p. 239) do not of course contain this 
portion of the Hexapla. 

? Targum, pl. Targumim, means simply “ translation,” “ interpreta- 
tion,” from tagam (= ta’am), to be double, targem (= taggem), to 
double, used especially of something written — hence to interpret, eluci- 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 243 


time of Esdras and Nehemias, the people no longer understood 
the ancient Hebrew (Neh. vill. 8), and so it was not enough 
to read the Sacred Books in the synagogues of Palestine in 
the original, but what was read had to be translated into the 
vulgar tongue, viz. into Chaldee. Tor a long time this was 
done orally, but gradually the translations were written down. 
They must all belong to a very early period, as nowhere can 
any hostility to Christianity be traced in them. ‘They origi- 
nated partly in Palestine, partly in Babylon, in the rabbinical 
schools of these districts. We possess 'argumim of all the 
books in the Hebrew Bible except Esdras, Nehemias and Daniel. 
The most important Targum is that of Onkelos,’ and dates 
from the time of the Apostles. It is limited to the Pentateuch, 
and is very faithful and free from mistakes. A second Targum, 
that of the Prophets,? is ascribed to Jonathan, a disciple of 
Hillel, who was a teacher of the law. Apparently this was 
written during our Lord’s hfe. It is not so accurate as the 
work of Onkelos, contains many explanatory additions, and 
might almost be called a paraphrase explaining the text. The 
pseudo-Jonathan’s Targum of the Pentateuch and others of 
various books of the Bible* were the work of unknown authors 
of later date, and are regarded as less valuable. Nevertheless, 
as they, too, date from very early in the Christian era, they are 
useful aids in studing the Hebrew text. It is generally acknowl- 
edged that the text used by these later translators differed very 
little from the Masoretic. 


date. Oral elucidation seems to have given rise to the sermon, the edi- 
fying explanation of what is written, which is still called Turgam by 
Syrian Christians, 

* According to the Talmud, Onkelos was a proselyte; he showed great 
honor to the famous Gamaliel at his death (52 a.p.), so he must have 
lived in the first century (see Kaulen, I, 115). His Targum is printed 
in the great polyglot editions, and a new reprint of it was published by 
A. Berliner in Berlin, 1884. 

2 It contains Josue, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel 
and the twelve minor prophets. 

’ Namely an anonymous Targum of the Psalms, Proverbs and Job; 
another of the five * Rolls” (Megilloth, i.e. Canticles, Ruth, Lamenta- 
tions, Eeclesiasticus and Esther); another of Esther and one of Chroni- 
cles. For printed editions of the Targums see Kaulen, Hinl., I, 114; 
Petermann, Lingue chald. grammatica, pp. 83-88. 


244 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


35. SAMARITAN VERSION OF THE PENTATEUCH 


The Samaritans were a mixed race, speaking a Semitic dialect 
of their own, and using the old Semitic or Phoenician writing. 
They were accustomed to read the Mosaic law (written in 
Phoenician characters), when they assembled for the worship 
of God.t Just a transcription became necessary for use in the 
Jewish synagogues, so did the Samaritans too require an adapta- 
tion, for they ceased to understand the Hebrew characters. Ac- 
cording to the statements made by the few remaining people of 
this nation, one was made by a priest named Nathanael, about the 
year 20 B.c. The ancients were familiar with this work, and 
Origen often quotes it in his Hezapla, and calls it to Yapaper- 
tuxov. It became known in the West through Della Valle, 
a scholar who in 1616 acquired a manuscript of it at Damascus, 
as well as one of the original. Both dated from the year 1514, 
and are now in the Vatican at Rome. Another manuscript, also 
from Damascus, is in the library of the Barberini family in 
Rome, and still older manuscripts, which are, however, frag- 
mentary, are at Oxford, Cambridge and St. Petersburg. 


The Samaritan version is contained in the polyglot editions printed 
in Paris and London, and it has been reprinted from them by Brill, 
Frankfort, 1873. This text is based upon one single manuscript of the 
year 514, which is both recent and defective. Petermann’s edition, 
completed by Vollers (Berlin, 1891), is based on several manuscripts and 
is therefore very valuable. According to a critique by Samuel Kohn, 
the, Samaritan version reproduces the text of the Samaritan-Hebrew 
Bible almost letter for letter, with servile fidelity, and betraying a want 
of knowledge of Hebrew. The original composition probably passed 
through many hands and underwent many alterations. 


36. SyRIAC TRANSLATIONS 


The Syrian Church, the first community of Gentile Chris- 
tians, possessed various translations of the Bible, of which the 
most important is that known as the Peshitto version. It 
is certainly not the work of one man. The New Testament 
alone may have been done by one writer, at least as far as the 


1 With regard to the time when the Pentateuch and the Book of Josue 
came into the possession of the Samaritans, see above, p. 52. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 245 


omoNoyovpeva are concerned. The writings of the Apostles 
were read in every church at assemblies for worship, and as 
the Syrian Church is one of the oldest, the Syriac version of the 
New Testament must belong to quite the early part of the second 
century, and the uniformity of the language points to its being 
the work of one translator. The books of the Old Testament, 
at least the protocanonical, had existed in Syriac before this 
time, for in the New Testament Peshitto quotations are made 
from the Old Testament Peshitto, hence the latter must have 
been written in the first century of our era; it was translated 
from the Hebrew text, and is probably the work of several 
persons, as its language has not the same uniformity and even- 
ness as that of the New Testament Peshitto. 


The name 8NWW5S, Peshittho or Peshittha, is explained in various 
ways. It seems to be connected with bwa (Chald. and Syr. peshat), 
i.e. to spread out, expound, so that the meaning would be the expounded, 
i.e. translated (Scripture). 

The deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament and the dvriveyoueva 
of the New were added to the Peshitto before the fourth century, as 
Saint Ephrem the Syrian (300-380), who did not understand Greek, 
often quotes from them. That they originally were not included seems 
probable from notes in some manuscripts of the Peshitto (cf. p. 205). 

In 1858 Cureton, an Englishman, published some fragments of a 
Syriac text of the Gospels that is older than the Peshitto in its present 
form. Biuthgen used his work (1885) in an attempt to restore the Greek 
text from which the Syriac translation had been made. In 1892, in the 
monastery on Sinai, a palimpsest manuscript of the gospels in Syriac 
was discovered that appears to be still older than Cureton’s text. This 
Codex Sinaiticus Syrus is called Lewis Codex after the lady who dis- 
covered it, Mrs. Smith-Lewis, an English widow. It was photographed 
in situ, and published at Cambridge in 1894, under the title “ The Four 
Gospels in Syriac, transcribed from the Sinaitic Palimpsest,” 4to. It was 
followed by “ A Translation of the Four Gospels,” by Smith-Lewis, Lon- 
don, 1894, 8vo.* 


* See K. Holzhey, Der neuentdeckte Codex Syrus Sinaiticus, Munich, 
1896. This work contains a thorough examination of the codex, as well 
as a comparison of it with Cureton’s text. Both texts appear, according 
to Holzhey, to have been translated from the same Greek original; they 
are not independent translations, but are revised versions of one and the 
same text, and are older than the Peshitto. Tatian’s Diatessaron is 
based upon the Lewis Codex, and is possibly later than the Cureton 
Codex. Both manuscripts are orthodox; only the genealogy in Saint 
Matthew in the new Sinai palimpsest seems to have been taken from an 


246 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The discoverer made a second journey to Sinai in the spring of 1895, 
in order, if possible, to fill up the voids in the first edition and to verify 
some doubtful readings. She published the results of this re-examina- 
tion of the codex in her work, “Some Pages of the Four Gospels re- 
transcribed from the Sinaitic Palimpsest with a Translation of the 
Whole Text,’ Cambridge, 1896. This book contains many additions to 
the text as first published. The discovery is of great importance in Bible 
criticism, for this is the oldest Syriac text known hitherto. Unhappily 
it is very incomplete.’ 


Besides the Peshitto, there are two other Syriac translations, 
viz.: (a) In the seventh century (617) Paul of Tella, a Mono- 
physite bishop, translated the Old Testament from the LXX. 
‘he rendering is so literal as to be very useful in determining 
the text of the Septuagint at that time (see p. 242). (b) At 
a still earlier date, about 500 aA>b., a suffragan bishop, named 
Polycarp, translated part of the Bible into Syriac from the 
Greek. He did so at the instigation of his bishop, Philoxenus 
of Mabug (== Hierapolis). His version contained at least the 
Psalms and the New Testament. These two translations were 
used by heretics (Monophysites ).? 


The Bible was translated into Arabic only at a comparatively late 
date, and then not all at once, nor by one man, but book by book, by 
various persons. The best known of these translators is Rabbi Saadia 
Gaon (died 942), an Egyptian. He translated the whole of the Jewish 
canon of the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew. Not all the books, 
however, in his translation have been preserved, and some still extant 
have not yet been printed. Of. Engelkemper, De Saadie Gaonis vita, 
Bibliorum versione, hermeneutica. Monast., 1897. Much older, and there- 
fore more important, are the Coptic (Egyptian) translations made from 


Ebionite manuscript of the Gospels, as, in i. 16, it contains the words, 
“ Joseph begot Jesus.” The discoverer of the codex, however, does not 
agree with this theory, and lays stress upon the argument that the text 
cannot be tainted with heresy, as immediately after the genealogy fol- 
lows the account of the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary by the 
Holy Spirit. She maintains that the word “ begot ” has throughout the 
genealogy the purely conventional meaning “was reckoned legally or 
socially as the son.” It has this meaning in verse 8, where Joram is 
said to have begotten his great-grandson Ozias, and in verse 12, where the 
childless Jechonias is said to have begotten Salathiel. Cf. also A. Bonus, 
Collatio Cod. Lew. ce. Cod. Curet, Oxford, 1896. 

* It is supposed that the manuscript was revised about 400 a.D., in 
accordance with a Greek text belonging to the second century. 

? Printed editions: Ceriani, Translatio syra Vet. Test., Mediolani, 
1876, ete.; Gutbir, Nov. Test. Syr., Hamburg, 1664. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE R47 


the Greek in the second or, at latest, in the third century. Of almost 
equal value are the Ethiopian (fourth century) and the Armenian (not 
much later) versions, both based on Greek originals. Of the Gothic 
translation by Vulfilas (died 381) only some considerable fragments re- 
main. This version, too, was made from the Greek. 


37. LATIN TRANSLATIONS 
The Itala and the Vulgate 


1. In the Western Church from very early times of Chris- 
tianity, the Holy Scriptures have been read in a Latin version, 
known as the Vulgata (versio) in consequence of its widespread 
use. This translation is taken partly from an older version, that 
was made soon after the introduction of Christianity to the 
West, and partly is the work of Saint Jerome. 

2. As soon as Christianity was adopted, it was necessary to 
read the sacred books during divine worship in the vernacular, 
and this gave rise to the Latin translation. Scarcely any one 
in the West (except the Jews) understood Hebrew, and only 
the educated classes knew Greek. Most of the early Christians 
belonged to the lower classes (I Cor. 1. 26) and consequently a 
Latin version was needed. 

Whether divine worship in Rome was originally performed in Latin 
or in Greek is still an open question. Ferd. Probst agrees with De 
Rossi in believing the Greek language to have been in use until the end 
of the fourth century, but Kaulen thinks Mass was said in Latin. Even 


if Greek was the usual language for the sacrificial rite, the Bible would 
have had to be read to the people in the vernacular. 


3. It is tolerably certain that not only one but several Latin 
translations existed long before Saint Jerome.’ The first his- 
torical mention of the existence of the Bible in Latin comes 
from Africa, where Tertullian (160-240), writing about the 
end of the second century, speaks of such a version as in use 
among the Christians.2. Saint Augustine, who wrote later, says 
that there were many Latin versions, but he preferred the tala 


1 Wiseman and others have supposed that all the Latin texts of the 
Bible, before the time of Saint Jerome, were only different versions of 
one original translation made probably in Africa. Cornely shares this 
opinion, but Kaulen thinks that the translation was made in Rome. 

* In usum exit nostrorum. 


248 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


(sc. interpretatio) to all the rest, as it was accurate and yet 
intelligible. Probably he had brought it with him from Italy, 
and therefore gave it this name.t The text used by Saint 
Augustine was certainly not the same as Tertullian’s, as may 
be seen by comparing their quotations. There were therefore 
at least two Latin versions known in Africa.* In Europe also 
there were probably several Latin texts in existence, as the 
patristic quotations do not always agree, and Saint Jerome com- 
plains of there being many Latin texts containing great dis- 
crepancies.® 

4, Still there must have been one translation regarded in 
Italy as better than the rest, as also in Saint Augustine’s 
opinion; for Saint Jerome often mentions a communis editio 
or antiqua translatio. Moreover, the quotations made by the 
Italian Fathers often agree exactly and point to their having 
used one and the same text; and, as a matter of fact, as com- 
parison shows, this text must have been the one used by Saint 
Augustine, viz. that of the Jtala. Saint Augustine’s preference 
must have made itself felt in Italy (ceteris preferatur), and so 
there was what may be called an official text. 

5. It is true that to a great extent this translation is lost 
for us, as in most of the books of the Old Testament it has been 
replaced by Saint Jerome’s translation, that will be discussed 
later. A good deal, however, of the lost translation can be 
recovered from quotations made by the Fathers who lived before 
Saint Jerome, and especially by Saint Augustine. Moreover, 
many remains of older Latin manuscripts have been found. 


1 De doctrina Ohrist., II, 15: In ipsis interpretationibus Itala ceteris 
preferatur, nam est verborum tenacior [se. than others] cum perspicui- 
tate sententie. Burkitt, an English scholar, has tried to show that 
this Jtala was not an earlier Latin text, but the work of Saint Jerome 
in 383 in Rome. Saint Augustine wrote the above words in 397. But 
if this were the case, Saint Augustine’s Jtala would have contained only 
the Psalms and the New Testament, whereas he is speaking of the whole 
Bible. 

* Cf. also Wunderer, Bruchstiicke einer Afrik. Bibeliibersetzeung in der 
pseudocyprianischen Schrift exhortatio de penitentia, Erlangen, 1889. 
This translation agrees fairly with Tertullian, but not with Saint 
Augustine. 

® Prof. in l. Josue: apud Latinos tot [sunt] exemplaria quot codices. 


THE. BIBLE AS A WHOLE 249 


As early as the eighteenth century Sabatier of the Congregation of 
Saint Maur attempted to restore the Jtala completely from the seattered 
fragments that remain of it (Paris, 1743). Since his time many discov- 
eries have been made. In Munich part of the Acts of the Apostles, ac- 
cording to the Itala, was found on parchment that had once been used 
to bind books belonging to the monastic library at Freising. This was 
published by L. Ziegler (Italafragmente, Marburg, 1875). That these 
fragments really formed part of the Itala is clearly seen, if they are 
compared with Saint Augustine. The same may be said of an edition of 
the Gospels by H. J. White, “ The Four Gospels” (“Old Latin Biblical 
Texts,” ii. 1888). This is based upon a sixth-century manuscript belong- 
ing to a priest named Valerian; it was found at Freising, and is now in 
Munich. Tischendorf refers to this manuscript as q. 

Other parts of the Jtala from Freising were published by Belsheim 
and Wolfflin. According to Wélfflin the Freising manuscript belongs to 
the sixth century. He praises the translation of the Jtala, and, like 
Saint Augustine, admires its exact correspondence with the Greek origi- 
nal and the lucidity of its expressions. It aims not so much at correct 
Latinity, but at preventing -‘ any particle of God’s word from being lost.” 
Wolfflin thinks that the oldest Latin translation was made in Africa, 
because Greek was not understood there, whereas in Rome and Southern 
Italy Greek was spoken as well as Latin. ‘‘ When and where it was 
written will only be stated with certainty after we have acquired a 
better knowledge of African Latin.” Other editions of texts belonging to 
a period before Saint Jerome, and now generally called collectively 
Itala, are mentioned by Kaulen. 


6. The existing remains of the old Latin version enable us 
to see (1) that it was translated from a Greek text, and, in 
the case of the Old Testament, from the text of the Septuagint 
that existed before the Hezxapla; (2) that it reproduced this 
text with great accuracy, and might justly be called the Septua- 
ginta wn Latino; (38) that it was in vulgar Latin, and (4) that 
it was the work of an Oriental. We may assume that the 
translator (or translators) belonged to the number of those who 
preached the faith in the earliest age of Christianity. Rufinus 
the Presbyter, the friend and afterwards the antagonist of 
Saint Jerome, intimates that the translation, or at least the 
beginning of it, must be traced back to Saint Peter. In fact, 
if the founder of the Roman Church established the order 
of worship, it seems that he must have taken care to have a 
generally intelligible text of the sacred books, which were read 
at the assemblies. 

?. The widespread use of the Latin text gave rise to many 
variant readings in the copies of the Bible, as it did in the 


250 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


case of the Septuagint. Complaints gradually arose, and in- 
creased as time went on, and they caused the energetic Pope 
Damasus to commission the learned Saint Jerome, who was 
then living in Rome, to revise and amend the Latin text that 
was in general use in that city. He set to work at once, and 
in the same year produced a revised version of the New Testa- 
ment and Psalms. ‘This version of the New Testament has 
ever since been used in the liturgy. ‘The Psalms, too, were 
at once introduced into it, and this text is still found where 
passages from the Psalms occur in the Missale Romanum, as 
well as in the Jnvitatoria and Responsoria of the Breviary. ‘To 
distinguish Saint Jerome’s text from the unrevised version, the 
former was called the Psaltertwm Romanum. Later on, in 392, 
Saint Jerome, being then in Palestine, revised the text of the 
Psalms again with more accuracy, comparing it with the 
Hexapla version of the Septuagint, for he had discovered 
Origen’s great work in the library of the church at Cesarea. 
This new revision was adopted first in Gaul, and hence it is 
called the Psaltervum Gallicanum; it is the version given in 
the Vulgate and in the Breviary (with the above-mentioned 
exceptions). While he was in Palestine, Saint Jerome revised 
most of the other books of the Old Testament, collating them 
with the Hezapla, but of this revision nothing has been pre- 
served except the Book of Job (published by Lagarde, Mitteil., 
II, 189-237), as a still better Latin text was soon afterwards 
produced. 

8. While engaged in the work just described, Saint Jerome 
conceived an entirely new plan. As during his sojourn in 
Palestine he had learnt Hebrew and Chaldee very thoroughly, 
and as he was convinced that the original text was far superior 
to the Septuagint translation, and in order also to prevent the 
Jews from being able to argue that the text used by the Church 
was inaccurate, he determined to translate into Latin, from the 
Hebrew and Chaldee, the whole of the Old Testament, as far as 
it existed in the original. In spite of some interruptions, he 
completed this work in fifteen years (390-405). Unhappily, he 
had too high an opinion of his Hebrew original, which he often 
calls hebraica veritas, although it was very like the present 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 251 


Masoretic text, contained many defects, and was in many re- 
spects inferior to the Septuagint. However, his reverence for 
tradition, and also his knowledge that most Catholics were 
averse to any alteration of the sacred text, kept him from 
giving free rein to his preference for the Hebrew, and in his 
translation we find many passages at variance with the Hebrew 
text. Regarded as a whole, Saint Jerome’s work is the best 
of all the old translations, since it exactly reproduces the mean- 
ing of the original, and does so in very perfect language.* 

9. It did not, however, find ready acceptance everywhere in 
the Church, as the prefaces to the sacred books reveal. Many 
objected to the new expressions, and disapproved of the apparent 
neglect of the Septuagint, which had been used by the Apostles. 
Saint Jerome had to encounter bitter antagonism in conse- 
quence, and a long time elapsed before the new text won favor, 
as the Church gave no special orders enforcing its use. During 
the fifth and sixth centuries both translations were in use; 
some persons preferred the Jtala, others Saint Jerome’s text, 
and it was only after the time of Gregory the Great that the 
latter decidedly prevailed, for, although the Pope said in his 
explanation of the Book of Job that either text might be used, 
he showed plainly in the course of his commentary that he 
preferred Saint Jerome’s. When the Venerable Bede lived, the 
Itala had already fallen out of use in the churches, and was 
described as prisca, vetusta, antigua, while Saint Jerome’s text 
gradually came to be known as nostra or vulgata, and ever 
since, up to the present time, it has always been used in the 
Church. 


The Codex Fuldensis of the New Testament, written about 545, is be- 
lieved to be the oldest manuscript of the Latin text as revised by Saint 
Jerome (published by Ranke, Marburg, 1868). Of not much later date is 
the Codex Amiatinus, written in England, 690-716; it is named after 
the Monastery of Amiata near Florence, where it was formerly kept, but 
now it is in Florence. It contains the whole Bible with the exception of 
the Book of Baruch. The New Testament of this Codex was edited by 
Tischendorf under the title Codex Amiatinus N. T. interprete Hieronymo, 
Leipz., 1854. 


* Concerning the method of this translation see Hoberg, De s. Hiero- 
nym. ratione interpretandi, 1886. 


252 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


10. What has been said shows that the Vulgate consists of 
the following parts: (a) the protocanonical books of the Old 
Testament (with the exception of the Psalms) according to 
Saint Jerome’s translation from the Hebrew or Chaldee; (0) 
the deuterocanonical books of Tobias and Judith, also translated 
by him directly from the same languages; (c) the Psalms, from 
the Jtala but revised twice by Saint Jerome in accordance with 
the Septuagint; (d) the deuterocanonical books of the Old 
Testament (with the exception of Tobias and Judith), as taken 
from the tala, and not revised by Saint Jerome (Baruch, I 
and II Machabees, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom); Saint Jerome 
translated Esther x.-xvi. from the Septuagint, and Daniel 1i1. 
24-90, xui. and xiv. from Theodotion; (e) the whole of the 
New Testament is taken from the Jtala, but modified by Saint 
Jerome’s revision mentioned above. 


38. CONTINUATION. THE VULGATE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 


11. In course of time frequent copying, and the many cor- 
rections made by the owners, of Bibles led to great diversity in 
the copies of the Latin Bibles. Most of the variant readings 
are due to familiarity with the old tala, and the Liturgy espe- 
cially was not without influence upon the text. Charlemagne 
employed his learned chancellor Alcuin in revising the text 
of the Vulgate, probably in accordance with the oldest manu- 
scripts obtainable (801). In the eleventh century the great 
scholar, Lanfranc (ob. 1089), undertook a new emendation, and 
his text was long considered as the standard for copyists. 

12. From the twelfth century onwards the so-called Cor- 
rectorta came into use, to secure as far as possible the accuracy 
of the text. They originated with Stephen Harding, Abbot 
of Citeaux (ob. 1134). He corrected a manuscript of the Bible 
in accordance with a very old Latin copy, using at the same 
time the Hebrew and the Greek texts. The revised version thus 
produced was thenceforth the standard text for the whole 
Cistercian Order. Other Orders and learned bodies followed 
Stephen Harding, and every community desired in a similar 
way to procure for itself a standard copy of the Bible. The 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 253 


standard copy of the Vulgate used by the University of Paris 
was very frequently copied, but as it was by no means free from 
mistakes, theologians from the thirteenth century onwards col- 
lected various readings, adding notes to say which had the 
best claim to preference. These various readings were written 
on the broad margins of the Bible texts, and a text containing 
them, or even a copy of the apparatus criticus without the text, 
was called a correctorium. Many such correctoria are preserved 
in various libraries. 

13. Towards the close of the Middle Ages two things ex- 
erted great influence upon the Latin text; viz., the study of 
classical literature and the invention of printing. 

The increase of classical studies had the result that in many 
places people tried to “ improve ” the traditional text on classical 
lines, because Saint Jerome’s language did not savor of Cicero. 
Moreover, many wished to make the Latin text conform more 
closely to the Greek or Hebrew. Alterations of both these kinds 
could be made only at the cost of sacrificing the uniformity and 
purity of the text. 

The introduction of the art of printing had similar effects. 
It is well known that the first book ever printed was the Latin 
Bible (Mayence, 1450). By the year 1500 over one hundred 
different editions of the Bible had been printed and were in 
circulation. In bringing out the earliest editions, there was 
no thought of textual criticism, and any manuscript that came 
to hand was printed. As competition increased, however, the 
publishers had to comply with the taste of the period and have 
recourse to Hebrew and Greek. The more numerous these aids 
were, and the more various their sources, the greater and more 
striking were the diversities in the Latin text, so much so that 
the very idea of a Vulgate, i.e. of a generally recognized and 
accepted form of the written words of revelation, was almost 
lost. : 


39. CoNTINUATION. THE CoUNCIL oF TRENT 


14. Meantime the Reformation had broken out, and in con- 
sequence of it the Council of Trent had assembled. On account 
of the dogmatic questions which it had to consider, it was 


254 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


obliged to begin by determining the sources of the Church’s 
teaching. ‘These were declared to be Scripture and tradition. 
As from the earliest times in all ecclesiastical business the Holy 
Scriptures had been used in the language of the Roman metro- 
politan Church, it was decided not to depart from this practice, 
but it was obvious that the Latin Bibles varied greatly one from 
another. It was therefore necessary to point out one book in 
which the Holy Scripture might be found accurately and truth- 
fully rendered, and such the Council declared to be “the old 
Vulgate edition, which has stood the test of use for many cen- 
turies in the Church.” It went on to order that the Vulgate 
should be regarded as authentic and be taken as the foundation 
not only at all proceedings of the Council, but also at all the 
official transactions of the Church, at sermons, catechizing and 
discussions (T'rid., Sess. 4).* 

15. The expression “ authentic” (= trustworthy, demonstra- 
tive) implies that the Vulgate contains the right text of Holy 
Scripture, as that text was written by the authors. Therefore 
any evidence derived from it on matters of faith or morals 
must be recognized as valid, i.e. 1t must not be rejected on the 
pretext that the Vulgate does not contain the correct text of 
the Bible. ‘This does not, however, mean that the Vulgate is 
absolutely free. from mistakes and cannot and ought not to 
admit of any correction, but it only means that it contains no 
mistakes of such a kind as that a misleading doctrine can be 
derived from them. This decision was not intended to forbid 
or exclude the use of the original text, or of other translations. 


Leo XIII says in his Encyclical on Holy Scripture: “ Although the 
meaning of the Hebrew and Greek idioms is, as far as substance is con- 
cerned, abundantly clear from the words of the Vulgate, yet if there be 
anything ambiguous or inaccurate introduced therein, an examination of 
the original language, according to the advice of Saint Augustine, will 
be if great service.” 

According to Bellarmine (De Verbo Dei, II, 11, ed. Mogunt, 1842) ref- 
erence should be made to the original (1) when there appears to be a mis- 
take in the written or printed Latin text, (2) when the Latin codices 


* Sancta synodus declarat, ut hee ipsa vetus et vulgata editio, qua 
longo tot seculorum usu in ipsa ecclesia probata est, in publicis lectioni- 
bus, disputationibus, predicationibus et expositionibus pro authentica 
habeatur et ut nemo illam rejicere audeat vel presumat. 


THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE 255 


vary, (3) when a word or thought is ambiguous in the Latin, (4) in 
order to understand the peculiar use and emphasis of words in the origi- 
nal. Salmeron, who was present at the Council, uses similar language. 
See Cornely, Introd., I, 458; Comp., 112. 


16. As the Vulgate had suffered many alterations in conse- 
quence of having been frequently reproduced during a very long 
period, the Council at the same session ordered that thence- 
forth only carefully revised editions of the Holy Scriptures, 
and especially of the Vulgate, should be issued.t. In this way 
the arbitrary alterations of editors were to be checked, and a 
return to the tradition of the Church was pointed out as the 
right course to pursue in restoring the purity of the Bible text. 

By saying “as free as possible from mistakes ” the Church wished to 
guard against “ corrections” in the text, which are often only the out- 
come of private judgment and cause much harm. She declared that the 
old originals or translations ought to be followed as closely as possible. 
The appreciative treatment of the oldest discoverable manuscripts, which 


in our day is a favorite pursuit of scholars, has therefore long been de- 
sired and encouraged by the Church. 


Catholic scholars at once attempted to comply with the wishes 
of the Council. As early as 1547 the theological faculty at 
Louvain caused a text of the Vulgate, restored according to 
strict rules of criticism, to be published by one of their mem- 
bers, John Hentenius, and this was frequently reprinted. This 
text did not, however, give universal satisfaction, because it 
subsequently admitted a number of readings to the margins, and 
they were likely to raise doubts as to the accuracy of the 
text itself. 

17. Meantime the Holy See had determined to issue an offi- 
cial edition of the Vulgate. After much careful work upon it, 
this Roman edition appeared under Sixtus V, 1590, and again 
in a more accurate form under Clement VIII, 1592. As some 
misprints still occurred in the latter edition, a still more care- 
fully revised reprint appeared in 1593 and 1598. This edition is 
now the standard edition of the Church, and all new impressions 
of the Vulgate must agree with it word for word. The Council 
of Trent imposed upon all printers of Bibles the obligation of 


1 Ut posthac sacra scriptura, potissimum vero hec ipsa vetus et vul- 
gata editio quam emendatissime imprimatur. 


256 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


submitting their Bibles to the bishops and of securing their 
written approval for the books (Sess. 4, de ed. et usu sacr. 
librorum). 


Valentine Loch’s Latin Bible (Ratisbon, 3d ed., 1873) is an accur- 
ate reprint of this Roman edition, and is issued with the sanction of 
Karl August, Archbishop of Munich and Freising. In 1861 a careful re- 
print of the Clementine text of 1593 and 1598 was published by Vercel- 
lone in Rome; and this was copied at Augsburg in 1880. 

Two English scholars, J. Wordsworth and H. J. White, imposed upon 
themselves the task of restoring, with the greatest possible fidelity, the 
Vulgate text of the New Testament as revised by Saint Jerome. In doing 
so they made use of about thirty old manuscripts, but relied chiefly on 
the Codex Bibliorum Amiatinus (see p. 251). Their edition was printed 
at Oxford: the Gospels in 1889-1898 and the Acts in 1905. This work, 
like the attempts mentioned before. (p. 233) to restore the Greek text 
of the New Testament, shows that our Vulgate need not fear criticism. 
Nevertheless many persons desired to have a new edition authorized by the 
Church. Such an edition appeared at Innsbruck in 1906; it is the result 
of very laborious studies, and follows the copy in the Vatican. P. 
Michael Hetzenauer, Biblia sacra Vulgate editions. Large octavo, 
XXXII, 1143, n. 173. 


* At the present moment the Benedictines are busy in preparing what 
is to be the new official edition of the Church. (Letter of Pope Pius X 
to Abbot Gasquet, Dec. 3, 1907.) 


THIRD PART 


SPECIAL INTRODUCTION —THE SACRED BOOKS 
CONSIDERED SINGLY 


PRELIMINARY REMARKS 


N a Special Introduction each of the sacred books must be 

dealt with separately, its contents stated, the date of compo- 

sition and the author discussed, and, if need be, its authenticity 
and textual purity defended. 

When we call a book authentic, we mean that it is really 
the work of the person to whom it is ascribed. Authenticity 
is proved partly by internal and partly by external evidence, 
i.e. partly from arguments derived from the book itself and 
partly from other testimony. 

A book is said to possess textual purity when it has under- 
gone no essential alteration in the course of time, but has in 
the main been preserved as it left the author. : 


THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
1. SURVEY AND CLASSIFICATION 


The books of the Old Testament were produced gradually 
among the Israelites, and the special introduction to it may be 
divided into four sections, corresponding to the four chief 
periods of Israelite history. 

1. From the beginning of the history of Israel to the close 
of the Mosaic legislation and the entrance of the Israelites into 
Palestine about the year 1400 B.c.; origin of the Pentateuch. 


1 avdevrixés (from avéévrns = ruler, originator) means proceeding from 
the originator, genuine (see p. 254). When the Council of Trent pro- 
claimed the authenticity of the Vulgate, a wider signification was given 
to the word, as it included genuineness and textual purity. 


258 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


2. From the occupation of the Holy Land to the separation 
of the two kingdoms of Juda and Samaria about 920 B.c. (or, 
according to another view, 932 B.c.). The period when the 
sacred poetry was at its prime; origin of the books of Josue, 
Judges, Ruth, Samuel, then of the Psalms, of Job and Canticles, 
later also of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 

3. From the separation of the kingdoms to the end of the 
Babylonian Captivity, 536 B.c. In this period prophecy was at 
its prime; origin of the works of the four major and of most 
of the minor prophets. 

4. The period after the Captivity to the time of Christ; 
origin of the books of Kings, Chronicles, Esdras and Nehemias, 
Esther, Tobias, Judith, Machabees; Aggeus, Zacharias and 
Malachias; Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom. 


FIRST SECTION 


THE OLD TESTAMENT REVELATION BEFORE THE EN- 
TRANCE OF THE ISRAELITES INTO PALESTINE 


2, THE PENTATEUCH 


1. Name. The only sacred book belonging to the earliest 
period of Israelite history is the Pentateuch’* (meaning five 
books), which is at once the book of the law and the history of 
Israel. The Hebrew name is Thora = law;? in the New Testa- 
ment it is 0 vopmos, 

Our names for the single books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers and Deuteronomy, are taken from the Septuagint, and 
were given with reference to the contents; the Vulgate re- 
tained the Greek names, only rendering apiOuol by Numeri. 
In the Hebrew Bible and among the Rabbis the names of the 
five books are taken from the initial word of each. The first 


* Tlévre, five, and revxos, utensil, tool, but in the Alexandrian period also 
book. The name is properly feminine = 4 revrarevxos BiBdos, but is mas- 
culine in Latin, because liber is understood. The word Pentateuch oceurs 
first in Origen (Ad Joh., IV, 25. Reusch, Hinleitung, p. 10), and in Latin 
first in Tertullian (Adv. Marc., I, 10). 

7 TWN, generally with the article. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 259 


is Bereshith==In the beginning; the second, Shemoth = 
Names, because it begins “ These are the names”; the third, 
Vajjigra = And he called; the fourth, Vajjedabber or Bemid- 
bar == And [God] spoke in the desert; the fifth, Debarim = 
Words (“ These are the words”). 

The Pentateuch contains the earliest history of the human 
race* and is at the same time the book of the law governing 
the people of revelation, who were strictly marked off from poly- 
theistic nations. 

The division of the work into five books is probably not due to 
the author, yet is very old. It is quite certain that the Seventy 
did not divide it, for the division of the Book of Psalms into 
five parts is based on the similar division of the Book of the 
Law. 

2. Contents. Genesis (50 chapters) contains the account of 
the Creation of the world and of man, the Fall of man and 
its immediate consequences, the Deluge, the dispersion of the 
human race, the history of Abraham and his descendants to 
the death of the Patriarch Jacob in Egypt. 

Exodus (40 chapters) contains the history of Moses, the 
departure of the Israelites from Egypt, the giving of the Law 
on Sinai, and the first arrangements for the worship of God. 

Leviticus (sc. liber) (2% chapters) consists chiefly of rules 
for worship and the persons engaged in it. 

Numeri or Numbers (36 chapters) contains lists of the fight- 
ing men and of the Levites, the arrangement of the encamp- 
ments, several laws regarding the future abode of the Israelites 
in Chanaan, and Balaam’s blessing. The thirty-seven years of 
wandering in the wilderness are passed over in silence.? 


* Interest has been awakened by a book written by Merker, a German 
officer: Die Masai, ein ostafrikanisches Semitenvolk, 1904. This race 
migrated from the Arabian peninsula into eastern Africa in prehistoric 
times. They have a monotheistic worship and are acquainted with al- 
most the whole account, given in Genesis, of the early history of mankind, 
Paradise, the temptation by the serpent, the deluge, ete. 

2 Fr. v. Hummelauer (Commentarius in Numeros, Paris, 1899) tries to 
prove that in Numbers xx. 1-11 we may assume the omission of a consid- 
erable part of the original history of these thirty-seven years. ‘ Moses 
struck the rock twice with his rod.” The first stroke had no effect on ac- 
count of the want of confidence felt by Moses. Then the people all re- 


260 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Deuteronomium or Deuteronomy (==second law) (34 chap- 
ters) emphasizes and partially repeats the previous legislation, 
and, at its close, contains an account of Moses’ last words, his 
death and burial. 


Genesis: 1, Creation, six days’ work.t 2. Second and supplementary 


belled against him and remained obstinate for many years (Amos v. 25, 
ete.; Acts vii. 42, etc.). The sin of Moses was therefore the immediate 
cause of this revolt, and respect for him led subsequent Israelite writers 
to suppress the sorrowful events of these thirty-seven or thirty-eight 
years.(?) When afterwards Moses’ confidence in God returned, he again 
struck the rock, and this time with success. 

1 Revelation tells us nothing as to the interpretation of the Hexe- 
meron; hence there are, on the part of theologians, various opinions 
regarding it. . . 

(a) Saint Augustine and Clement of Alexandria (Strom., VI, 16) 
assume that the six days must be limited to one moment. (It is true 
that in Ecclus. xviii. 1 we read: Creavit omnia simul, but this may 
refer to the sudden creation of spirits and of matter out of nothing, 
which is mentioned in Gen. i. 1.) 

(6) The literal interpretation is that the days of creation were real 
days of twenty-four hours each, so that God created the world in the 
course of six ordinary days. 

(c) The figurative interpretation is that six days are mentioned in 
Holy Scripture as employed in various forms of creation because man 
was ordered to work for six days and to rest on the seventh. In this 
way the work of creation would not have been the foundation of our 
week, but the already existing institution of the week would have been 
the reason for dividing the account of creation into six days’ work. 

(d) The Vision theory is that Adam described the work of creation 
as having been effected in six days to his descendants, because God in a 
vision (tardemah, as is mentioned in Gen. ii. 21 with regard to the 
creation of woman) showed him the various results of creation on six 
successive days. Of. v. Hummelauer, Schépfungsbericht. 

(e) According to Zapletal the six days’ work consists of two parts, 
— first to third day, creation of places; fourth to sixth day, creation of 
armies. This explanation is based on the word zebaam = their army, 
Genesis ii. 1. The verse runs: “Completed were heaven and earth and 
all their army.” The Septuagint translated zebaam by kécpuos abrayv, and 
so the Vulgate has ornatus eorum. The accurate translation, however, 
would have been orpards a’ray or mAnGos a’rwy = exercitus eorum. The 
scholastics, following the Vulgate, distinguish opus distinctionis (first to 
third days) and opus ornatus (fourth to sixth days); the latter should 
strictly be opus exercitus. Zapletal thinks that the reference is to the 
heavenly bodies (fourth day), creatures living in water and in air (fifth 
day), land animals and man (sixth day); these constitute the army or 
armies. This division corresponds to the six working days of mankind. 
Zapletal, therefore, thinks the account of creation is not strictly histori- 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 261 


account of the creation. The first human beings in Paradise? 3. The 
Fall of man. 4. Cain and Abel. Cain’s descendants. 5. Adam’s gene- 


eal, which is a questionable doctrine. Moreover we should notice that the 
creation of light on the first day is not the production of a place, and 
that plants, created on the third day, also form part of the army of 
the earth. Reference is made to the meaning of zaba = to move, but it 
also means to serve (e.g. Ex. xxxviiil. 8). God’s army is the vast host 
of creatures occupying heaven and earth (angels, stars, plants, beasts 
and men). They are witnesses to God’s power, and do Him service 
against those who deny Him. 

(f) Allusion must be made to a theory that at the beginning the 
alternating periods of light and darkness were much longer than they 
now are, so that each of the six days of creation may have embraced 
thousands or millions of years, since they were God’s days resembling 
God’s Sabbath, which still continues. This is called the concordistic 
theory. 

It has the advantage of being capable of reconciliation with the ac- 
count that evidently purports to be historical. We may also notice 
Thoene’s opinion that the days of creation were probably analogous to 
the seventh day which is not yet over. As this day is composed of 
many days of evening and morning, so it may have been in the history 
of creation. 

With regard to the age of the story of creation, Kaulen rightly re- 
marks that it was taken from tradition and placed by Moses at the be- 
ginning of his law. The investigations of modern scholars offer no 
opposition to the theory that the story was brought to the West from 
their Chaldean home by the original ancestors of the people of Israel. 
It differs considerably from the stories of creation handed down by the 
Babylonians and other nations. The heathen races introduced fanciful 
polytheistic elements into the tradition, whereas the Bible account is 
monotheistic and contains the absolute truth, viz. the revelation of God 
_to the first human beings. That this account is connected with the 
Babylonian legends, now being discovered by means of excavations in 
Babylon, is quite explicable, for Babylon was the first home of civiliza- 
tion for the human race. Of. Genesis xi. 

* Wellhausen thinks that this account may be referred to the class 
of Oriental fables that often contain stories of magic gardens and pal- 
aces. He proposes, therefore, to set it aside. May not the reverse be 
the truth? May not the old tradition of Paradise underlie these Orien- 
tal tales? Jeremias (xxxil. 19) declares all human beings to be chil- 
dren of Adam. Such inconvenient evidence is rejected by modern critics 
as being due to “later interpolations,” for they believe that the story 
of creation must have been composed during the Babylonian captivity. 
The situation of Paradise has been much discussed. Kaulen places it 
in Armenia, and Hoberg and Schépfer do the same; von Hummelauer 
thinks it was in Babylonia, and so does Pértner; Hommel refers it to 
Arabia. In his work on the rivers of Paradise (Paradiesesfliisse), 1901, 
Engelkemper supports the old theory that the Euphrates, Tigris, Indus 
or Ganges, and Nile are meant, and he assumes that the writer of Gene~ 


262 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


alogy. 6. Decay of morality. Noe and the ark. 7. Deluge.? 8, 9. End 
of the flood. Covenant with Noe, Sem, Cham and Japhet. 10. Noe’s 
genealogy. 11. Building of the Tower of Babel. Dispersion of mankind. 


sis accommodated his statements to the geographical knowledge of his 
day. It should, however, be borne in mind that great geological changes 
have taken place since the time of the first human beings, so that there 
may have been a river at one time in Asia, the name of which was trans- 
ferred to the African Nile. Engelkemper declares Eastern Armenia to 
have been the place where Paradise was situated. Fr. Delitzsch prefers 
Babylonia, and thinks the rivers of Paradise were channels of the 
Euphrates. Kaulen’s view has found most adherents amongst Catholics, 
at least up to the present time. 

* With reference to this event see R. de Girard, Le déluge devant la 
critique historique, Fribourg, 1892, and Le charactére naturel du déluge, 
Fribourg, 1894; also A. Trissl, Siindfluttheorie und Gletschertheorie, 
and Siindflut oder Gletscher, Ratisbon, 1893-94. That this catastrophe 
actually occurred is generally admitted, because the stories regarding 
it are so widely spread. The existence of about sixty-eight autochtho- 
nous accounts of a deluge can be proved, so that here we are dealing 
with a story known all over the world. There is not the same consensus 
of opinion regarding the extent of the flood, whether it affected the 
whole earth and all mankind, or only part of it. Nor are scholars agreed 
as to whether it was absolutely miraculous, or, in part at least, natural. 
Schanz, Schépfer, Hammerschmid, v. Hummelauer and Hoberg, Erkl. d. 
Genesis, all believe that the flood covered only a limited area, but 
Kaulen emphatically opposes this view, and so do Triss] and Gander. 

Reasons for believing that the Deluge was general: (1) In II Saint 
Peter iii. 5, ete., the Deluge is put on a level with the final destruction 
of the whole world, which is to be effected by means of fire. (2) What 
would have been the object of building the ark if Noe and his family 
could have found safety by migrating? (3) The language of Holy Scrip- 
ture clearly implies that the catastrophe was general, and it is a gen- 
eral rule in hermeneutics that a passage must be explained literally, as 
long as there is no absolute necessity for departing from the literal 
sense. (4) The Fathers and the exegetical tradition of the Church as- 
sume that the Deluge was general. (5) The Church does the same in 
her liturgy. 

Most of the objections to the general character of the Deluge are 
based upon the assumption that it must have been a merely natural 
event. But the language of Holy Scripture indicates that it was due to 
God’s immediate intervention, and was therefore something miraculous, 
and this removes all difficulty as to its being possible by natural means; 
it does not prelude the co-operation of the forces of nature but abso- 
lutely assumes it. The same remark applies to reports of other, later 
events, e.g. the plagues of Egypt. (We must acknowledge that at the 
present time the theory that the Deluge did not affect the whole world, 
but only the inhabited parts of it, and consequently all mankind, is the 
sententia communior of Bible commentators. It seems, however, scarcely 
in conformity with the language of the text.) 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 263 


12, 13. Call of Abram and his migration. 14. His victory over four 
kings. Melchisidech, King of Salem.* 15. God’s covenant with Abram. 
16. Hagar and Ismael. 17. Circumcision. 18. God’s intercourse with 
Abraham. 19. Destruction of Sodom. 20. Abraham and Abimelech. 
21. Birth of Isaac, expulsion of Ismael. 22. Abraham’s trial on Mount 
Moria. 23. Death of Sara. Burial place in Hebron. 24. Rebecca. 
25, 26. Ketura, Abraham’s death. Ismael’s descendants. Isaac and his 
sons Jacob and Esau. Abimelech. 27. Jacob outwits Esau. 28. Jacob’s 
migration. The ladder from heaven. 29. Jacob with Laban. His 
wives, Lia and Rachel, Bala and Zelpha. 30. Jacob’s children. Compact 
with Laban. 31. Return of Jacob. 32, 33. Jacob’s wrestling with God, 
Israel; meeting with Esau. 34. Ravishing of Dina, destruction of the 
Sichemites. 35. Benjamin. Rachel’s death. 36. Tribes of the Edo- 
mites, i.e. of Esau’s descendants. 37. Sale of Joseph. 38. Juda and 
Thamar. 39-41. Joseph in Egypt. 42-45. He tests his brethren. 46, 
47. Jacob and his family migrate to Egypt. 48. Jacob adopts Joseph’s 
sons. 49. Jacob’s blessing given to his sons; his death. 50. His 
burial at Hebron. 

Exodus: 1. Enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt. 2. Moses. 3. 
The burning bush. 4. Moses’ mission. 5. Moses and Aaron before 
Pharao.” 6. Increased oppression of the Israelites. 7-10. The ten 
plagues of Egypt. 12. Institution of the Pasch. Flight from Egypt. 
13. Consecration of the firstborn. The journey eastward. 14. Passage 
of the Red Sea. 15. Canticle of Moses. 16. Murmuring of the people. 
Quails. Manna. 17. Renewal of the journey. Water out of the rock. 
Victory over the Amalekites. 18. Jethro comes to Moses. 19. The 
people at Sinai. 20. The Decalogue. 21-23. Further legislation. 24. 
Conclusion of the Covenant. 25. Rules regarding the ark of the Cove- 
nant, the table for the loaves of proposition and the candlestick. 26. 
The Tabernacle. 27. The Altar in the Court. 28. The dress of the 
priests. 29. The consecration of the priests. 30. The altar of incense 
and other furniture. 31. Sabbath observance. Tables of the Law. 32. 
The goiden calf. 33, 34. New tables of the Law. 35. Free-will offerings 
for making the Tabernacle and all belonging to it. 36-40. The Taber- 
nacle and its furniture are made. 

Leviticus: 1-7. Regulations for the various sacrifices. 8. Consecra- 


* The genuine character of this chapter, formerly rejected by the 
critics, cannot now be questioned. King Amraphel of Sennaar (Gen. xiv. 
1) has been identified with King Hammurabi of Babylon. (See L. W. 
King’s “ Letters and Inscriptious of Hammurabi,” London, 1901.) Mom- 
mert has proved that Salem is the old city of Jerusalem. 

* Sayce, “ Fresh Light from Ancient Monuments” (p. 63), identifies 
the Pharao of the exodus with Meneptah II, who became king in 1325. 
Most probably, however, he lived in the fifteenth century and belonged to 
the eighteenth dynasty. Amenophis II (1461-1436) seems to have been 
the Pharao of the Exodus. (Miketta has showed that Israel must have 
entered the country west of the Jordan not later than 1392.) In his ac- 
count of his victories, Meneptah mentions the Israelites among the 
tribes inhabiting Palestine. 


264 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


tion of Aaron and his sons. 9. Aaron’s first sacrifice. 10. Punishment 
of his sons Nadab and Abiu. 11. Clean and unclean beasts. 12. Puri- 
fication of women after childbirth. 13, 14. Laws concerning leprosy. 
15. Sexual uncleanness. 16. The Day of Atonement. 17. Sacrifices to 
be offered only in the sanctuary. Eating blood forbidden. 18. Marriage 
laws. 19. Various rules governing the life of the people. 20. Crimes 
to be punished with death. 21, 22. Cleanness of priests and sacrifices. 
23. Holy days to be kept. 24. Loaves of proposition or shewbread. 
Punishment of blasphemy. 25. Sabbatical year and year of jubilee. 
26. Blessing for observance and punishment for transgression of the 
commandments. 27. Vows. 

Numeri or Numbers: 1, 2. Numbering of the people and arrange- 
ment of the camp. 3, 4. Number and order of the Levites. 5. Sacrifice 
of jealousy. 6. Nazirites. Aaron’s blessing. 7. Dedication offerings 
made by the heads of the tribes. 8. Dedication of the Levites. 9. Pasch 
on Sinai. 10. Regulations for blowing the trumpets on special occa- 
sions. Departure from Sinai in definite order. 11. Quails for food. 12. 
Mary’s murmuring and its punishment. 13. Spies sent to Chanaan. 
14. Murmuring of the people, and their punishment. 15. Laws regard- 
ing eating the flesh of animals sacrificed. A Sabbath breaker. 16. Sedi- 
tion of Core, Dathan and Abiron. 17. Aaron’s rod that blossomed. 
18. Duties and privileges of the Levites. 19. Sacrifice of the red cow. 
20. Mary’s death. Want of water. The Edomites refuse to allow the 
people to pass. Aaron’s death. Eleazar made high priest. 21. The 
brazen serpent. Victory over the Amorites. 22-24. Balaam is required 
to curse the Israelites, but blesses them instead. 25. Service of Beel- 
phegor and its punishment. 26. Numbering of the people. 27. Law 
of inheritance. Moses beholds the Promised Land from afar; he ap- 
points Josue to be his successor. 28-30. Rules about sacrifices and vows, 
31. Victory over the Madianites. 32. Settlements of the tribes of Ruben, 
and Gad, and half of Manasses. 33. List of the encampments. 34. 
Boundaries of the land assigned to Israel. 35. Levite cities and cities of 
refuge. 36. Marriages within the tribes. 

Deuteronomium, Deuteronomy: 1-4. Moses before his death reminds 
the people what God has done for Israel through him. 5. He repeats the 
Decalogue. 6. He requires them to love God and warns them, 7, against 
intercourse with the Gentiles. 8. He impresses upon them the necessity 
of obedience to God, and 9, 10, reminds them of God’s benefits. 11. A 
blessing is to follow obedience and a curse disobedience. 12. The people 
are to have one single place of sacrifice. 13. Heathen customs and wor- 
ship are to be avoided, 14, also the eating of unclean animals. 15. The 
year of remission. 16. Solemn festivals to be observed. 17. Rules for 
judges and kings. 18. Levites and prophets. 19. Rights of sanctuary 
and protection of witnesses. 20. Laws relating to war. 21. Family 
relations. 22. Immorality and adultery. 23. Various rules of life. 
24. Divorce. 25. Levirate marriage, etc. 26. First fruits and tithes. 
27. Stones to be erected as memorials. 28. Curses and blessings in 
proportion to the keeping of the law. 29. Renewal of the Covenant. 
30. Be faithful to your God! 31. Moses gives the written Law to the 
priests and elders, ordering them to read it every seven years to the 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 265 
people. Josue is appointed to succeed him. 32, 33. Moses’ song of 


praise, his prophecy and blessing. 34. Moses dies in the Land of Moab; 
Josue enters on his office. 


AGE AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH? 
(a) Criticism 


Both the Jewish and the Christian traditions ascribe to the 
Pentateuch a very high antiquity, for they regard Moses? as 
its author, and believe that he wrote it about 1500 B.c., or not 
long after. This was the universally accepted opinion until the 
seventeenth century. At the present time it is absolutely re- 
jected by rationalistic criticism, and the work, as we have it, 
is assigned to the period following the Captivity. 


The English philosopher Hobbes (ob. 1679), the French writer Peyrére 
(ob. 1676) and the Jew Spinoza (ob. 1677) forestalled the modern critics. 
In his “ Leviathan,” III, 33, Hobbes laid down the principle that we 
ought to try to ascertain their date of composition from the contents of 
the books of the Bible, and from internal evidence Moses could not be re- 
garded as the author of the Pentateuch. Peyrére, in his work on Pre- 
Adamites, maintained that the Pentateuch was the work of several 
authors. Spinoza (Tractatus theol.-polit., ec. 7-10) arrived at practically 
the same results as modern rationalistic critics, and assigned all the his- 
torical books of the Old Testament to the time of Esdras. 

A great impetus was given to the new criticism in the eighteenth 
century by J. Astrue (ob. 1766), a French physician, whose book, Con- 
jeatures sur les mémoires originausx, dont il paroit que Moyse s'est servi 
pour composer le livre de la Genése, was published in 1753. In it he 
drew attention to the various names for God in the Hebrew text of Gene- 
sis. Some portions contain the name Elohim exclusively, others no less 
exclusively the name Jehovah (Yahweh), while in others the names 
alternate.* For this reason Astrue assumes that there were two chief 
originals, one referring to God as Elohim and the other as Yahweh, and 


1 It may be noticed that the Pentateuch is discussed twice in the 
present work (pp. 37-56, and pp. 265-274). This was unavoidable, as 
in one place we are dealing with the history of Israel and in the other 
with the sacred literature. The two passages supplement, and do not 
contradict, one another. 

7 The name Moses is regarded by Déller, who follows Lepsius and 
Ebers, as formed from the Egyptian mes, mesu= Son. Schenz agrees with 
Exodus ii. 10 and thinks it is a Coptic word, meaning “ drawn out of the 
water.” 

8 e.g. in chapters i., v., viii. 1-19 God is always called Elohim; in 
iii., iv., X., xli-xvi. He is called Yahweh. (In the Greek text OQceds and 
KUptos; in the Latin, Deus and Dominus.) 


266 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


these were used by Moses. Astruc thinks that he can detect traces of at 
least two other originals, so that Moses’ work originally contained four 
columns that were subsequently confused. He does not doubt that Moses 
was the author. 

Astruc’s opinions were made known in Germany by Eichhorn (ob. 
1827), a Protestant, and gave rise to a violent dispute that has now 
lasted over one hundred years among Protestant scholars, though Catho- 
lics have not paid much attention to it. Eichhorn believed Moses to be 
the author of the Pentateuch, and imagined that he had combined an 
Elohim history with a Yahweh history, without removing superfluous 
passages, had then inserted additions of his own that he wrote from time 
to time, and shortly before his death had completed the work by writing 
Deuteronomy. Ilgen (ob. 1834) followed Eichhorn, but thought he 
could trace no less than 17 originals, 10 of which he ascribed to the first 
Elohist, 5 to the second, and 2 to the Yahwist. The whole theory as 
upheld by Astrue, Eichhorn and Ilgen was called the Documentary 
Hypothesis. c 

The Fragmentary Hypothesis was the next put forward. In 1802 
Vater (ob. 1826) brought out a Commentary on Genesis, in which he ex- 
pressed this opinion regarding the Pentateuch: The five books are made 
up of fragments, some large and some small, but originally not closely 
connected. Genesis, for instance, consists of thirty-nine such fragments, 
strung together by some one who collected them and was anxious that 
none of them should be lost. This was not Moses, but a much later 
writer. Hartmann (ob. 1838) followed Vater’s lines, and assigned the 
formation of the Pentateuch to the time of the Captivity. 

It is plain, however, that the Pentateuch is no mere collection of stray 
fragments, and so the Fragmentary Hypothesis had not many supporters. 

Ewald (ob. 1875) in his Komposition der Genesis, that appeared in 
1823, recognized the principle of unity running through it, and thought 
it possible to reconcile the variation in the names given to God with its 
authorship by one man, as he might have used now the one and now the 
other name with a definite intention. This argument exploded the Frag- 
tary Hypothesis. 

The next is known as the Supplementary Hypothesis. Bohlen (ob, 
1839), De Wette (ob. 1849), Bleek (ob. 1859), Tuch (ob. 1867), Lengerke 
(ob. 1857) and Delitzsch (ob. 1890) declared: We must admit that there 
were two authors, one of whom simply expanded the other’s work. The 
original work was that of an Elohist, the supplementary portions were 
written by a Yahwist. The former was a priest who lived about the time 
of Saul; the latter during Solomon’s reign. 

This Supplementary Hypothesis did not meet with universal ap- 
proval. Against it was the argument that the Yahwistis portions 
contain evidence of being original, so that they cannot be regarded 
as mere additions. Eventually, therefore, scholars came back to the Docu- 
mentary Hypothesis (Hupfeld, ob. 1866, Knobel, ob. 1863, Schrader, 
Kuenen, ob. 1891, and Dillmann, ob. 1894). They believed that there were 
several sources whence the author or authors had derived their informa- 
tion. Moses could not be the author, as the work belonged to a much 
later period. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 267 


J. Wellhausen, Professor at Géttingen, basing his studies on the earlier 
writings of Reuss and Graf, has worked out this documentary hypothesis 
most thoroughly, and it owes its name chiefly to him. Stade, Budde, 
Cornill, Kautzsch and others have written in accordance with his views. 
They distinguish four original documents, which were put together to 
form the present Pentateuch at the time of Esdras and Nehemias or not 
long after: the first was the work of a Yahwist J,' the second of an Elo- 
hist E, the third is Deuteronomy D, written and published during the 
reign of Josias (623) and the fourth authority was the priesthood P, 
from Babylon. (Cf. p. 40.) 


In answer to these hypotheses, which are now claimed to be 
irrefutable and true, the following arguments may be brought 
forward in 


(b) Defense of the Mosaic Origin of the Pentateuch 


The claim that the Pentateuch is the work of Moses is not a 
denial that there are other constituents in it. We may admit 
that Moses incorporated earlier documents and records into his 
work.?, No one can doubt that the use of writing was known 
at the time of Moses and long before. 


There is no tradition among the Israelites of any period when the art 
of writing was unknown to them. It has been asserted that the prophets 
Elias and Eliseus (900 8. c.) must have been ignorant of it, as no written 
works have come down from them, and Amos (after 800) is the earliest 
prophet whose writings are extant (Benzinger, “ Arch.,’ 289). The 
Mesa stone, however (896), proves not only that the art of writing was 
known long before the time of Amos, but also that it had been long in 
use, for the inscription on the stone shows an unmistakable tendency to 
cursive script, such as could result only from a long-continued develop- 
ment.? At the time of David (1055-1015) there was already a “ re- 
corder ” at court (II Kings (Sam.) viii. 17, xx, 25), and David himself 


1 For the sake of brevity, it is usual to designate these “ original docu- 
ments,” to which reference has often to be made, by letters. Kloster- 
mann and Strack add as a fifth document the “ Law of Sanctity ” (Lev. 
xvii._xxvi.), which they designate by H. Steuernagel (Allg. Hinl. in d. 
Hexateuch, Gottingen, 1900), adds further R = revision and union of the 
various fragments. This author accepts the documentary hypothesis for 
the solution of the problem as a whole, but also the fragmentary and 
supplementary hypotheses for that of individual problems. Cf. also 
Gunkel (Genesis, 1901), who also believes that some one finally edited 
the whole. 

2 Papal Bible Commission, June 27, 1906. 

3 See above, p. 46. 


268 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Urias (II Kings (Sam.) xi. 14, 15). 
Long before this period there had been communication in writing between 
Egypt and Western Asia, as Cornill (p. 14) admits. The Egyptians, 
whose wisdom Moses had acquired, are known as having been fond of 
writing.» Their learned men were called “scribes.” The largest extant 
papyrus (Prisse, Paris) belongs to the time of the Twelfth Dynasty, and 
partly to the reign of Pharao Snefru, about 2800 B.c. Moses may very 
well have come into the possession of written documents and have added 
to them, thus compiling the Pentateuch,* and he was certainly not the 
only Israelite who had acquired the art of writing in Egypt. 


Various glosses and additions of later date have undoubtedly 
been incorporated into Moses’ work; ?* such are, e.g. Gen. xii. 6, 
xl. Y, xxel4 p xxxvial, ete: Ary, 0 Gio) OR. ey mene 
The last chapter (xxxiv.) of Deuteronomy seems certainly to 
have been written by Josue, as Jewish tradition records. The 
following arguments support the theory that Moses was the author 
of the entire Pentateuch: 

1. The Pentateuch itself names Moses as its author. Deu- 
teronomy xxxi. 9: “‘ Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the 
priests.” 24-27: “After Moses had wrote the words of this 
law in a volume, and finished it, he commanded the Levites 
... saying: Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark 
of the covenant of the Lord your God: that it may be there for 
a testimony against thee, for I know thy obstinacy.” It is also 
frequently stated that Moses wrote down this or that regulation 
(Hix? xxiy.+4exxxivy. cco Nimes xe) . 

2. The Jewish tradition, which has never been contradicted, 
always regards the Law as being of Mosaic origin. The various 
parties among the Jews, the Jewish writers Josephus and Philo, 
and the whole nation both in and beyond Palestine, are unani- 


* “ Every object, down to the roughest bits of stone, was covered with 
written characters. In public and private life papyrus served as a means 
of communication.” Brugsch, Aegyptologie, 87. 

? Of. Winckler, Die Tontafeln von Tell-el-Amarna (5th vol. of the 
Keilinschrift. Bibliothek, Berlin, 1896). This important discovery shows 
that in 1500 B.c. Babylonian civilization had reached Upper Egypt, for 
the script and language of these tablets are both Assyrian-Babylonian. 
News and letters were constantly passing to and fro from the Euphrates 
to the Nile. 

® It is possible, however, that many of these remarks nevertheless came 
down from Moses himself. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 269 


mous in declaring the Pentateuch to have been the work of 
Moses, actually written by him. This tradition points to a long 
recognized fact. It cannot reasonably be supposed that a whole 
nation allowed itself to be deceived by forgeries and spurious 
documents. 

3. It has already been shown (p. 48, etc.) that in the 
literature of the Jews the Pentateuch has always been known 
and recognized as the work of Moses. 

4. Attention has also been drawn (p. 52, etc.) to the fact 
that the Samaritan Pentateuch is evidence that the book ex- 
isted at a very remote period in the history of the Israelites. 

5. Jesus Christ expressly confirmed the Jewish belief that 
Moses had drawn up the Book of the Law, when He said (John 
v. 46, 47) : “If you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe 
me also; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his 
writings, how will you believe my words?” Cf. also Matt. vii. 
4, xix. 7; Mark 1. 44, vi. 10, x. 3, xii. 26; Luke v. 14, xx. 28, 
xxiv. 44; John vii. 19, vii. 5. 

6. Other evidence is derived from the structure of the 
Pentateuch. 

(a) The work professes to have originated in the wilderness.* 
From the second book onwards it contains constant references 
to life in encampments. The Tabernacle was made of acacia 
wood, and the sacred furniture of the same material; there is 
no mention of cedars and cypresses, to which allusion is made 
so often later in Palestine. The acacia is the only tree that 
flourishes in the valleys of the Sinai peninsula and can be used 
for building purposes (cf. p. 69). Some creatures, which might 
be eaten, occur in the wilderness, but not in Palestine. The 
hides of the tachasch (sea cow) (Ex. xxvi. 14) were unknown 
to the later Israelites; the only other place where the name 
tachasch is found is Ezechiel xvi. 10.2 Only an eye witness could 
know how many palms and springs there were at Elim (Ex. xv. 

1 By wilderness we must not understand a sandy desert like the 
Sahara, but only an uninhabited and uncultivated country. 

2 “T shod thee with tachasch.” It is plain that the Israelites in later 
times were unacquainted with this animal, otherwise the name would 


have been translated in some way and made intelligible. Cf. p. 72. 
(N. B. The Douay reads “ violet-colored shoes.” ) 


270 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


27), or which men carried away the corpses of Aaron’s sons 
(Lev. x. 4), etc. 

(b) The author knew Egypt very well, and assumed that his 
earliest readers were equally familiar with it. In Genesis xiii. 
10 (where we ought to follow the Peshitto and read Zoan), the 
pasture land near the Jordan is compared with Lower Egypt. 
In Numbers xii. 23 we read that Hebron was older than the 
Egyptian town of Zoan. The Israelites are warned against 
imitating Egyptian customs (Lev. xviii. 3). The dress of the 
priests resembles that of the Egyptian priests. In the history 
of the Patriarchs the description given of Egypt exactly agrees 
with the accounts taken from the oldest monuments that have 
been discovered. A few expressions even are given in the Egyp- 
tian language.*. A foreigner, writing at a later date, could not 
have possessed such knowledge of ancient Egypt. The author 
and his earliest readers must have been long resident there. 

(c). The author and the people of his nation knew practically 
nothing of Chanaan; and such knowledge as they had was not 
acquired by personal experience. The Egyptian towns of 
Pithom, Ramasses (Ex. i. 11), Socoth, Etham (Ex. xiii. 20), 
Pi Hachiroth, Beelsephon (Ex. xiv. 9), are. mentioned as 
familiar, but it is expressly stated of Hebron, Sichem and Lus 
that these towns are situated in the Land of Chanaan (Gen. 
OGM ea O.O4bN, Mier 50.0.0 TB) 

(d) The whole legislation takes shape under the eye of the 
reader. Hence there are regulations for the sojourn in the 
wilderness, which are modified or extended to suit later cir- 
cumstances. These modifications are found chiefly in Deuter- 
onomy, which, according to tradition, was composed immediately 
before the Israelites entered the Holy Land. 

(e) The language of the Pentateuch generally resembles that 
of the later books, but it contains some expressions and forms 
that point to a very high antiquity. Thus xm is always used 
as==commune, and so is 1p); the infinitive 4 or } is used 
instead of m with adverbs 15; the third person plural is 73 
instead of 3, and go on. 


2 Cf. Sayce, “ Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments,” p. 39, ete. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 271 


The work must have been rewritten from time to time, for not only 
would the material substance of the book wear out in the course of cen- 
turies, but the language, being a living language, underwent at least some 
changes, and the old Semitic characters were replaced by the square script. 
It was unnecessary for many copies to exist, as the Pentateuch was not 
intended to be a reading book for the people. The chief revision of it, and 
also of the other books written before the Captivity, probably took place 
in the time of Esdras and Nehemias. There is therefore some truth in 
the statements of modern critics, but they go astray when they confuse 
rewriting and final revision with the first compilation of the law, and 
Yeduce their daring conclusions from this confusion. 


(f) If Moses, as the lawgiver of Israel, wished to secure per- 
manence for his ordinances, he was almost obliged to leave 
behind him a written code, which should contain, besides the 
rules themselves, the motives for their enactment, which were 
contained in the history of the divine revelations. History and 
Law were necessarily connected in this work. Moses felt, too, 
the necessity of leaving a written record behind him as a 
testimony against Israel (Deut. xxxi. 26, 27). 


It might be asked whether Moses, having been born and bred in Egypt, 
knew the Hebrew language. But Exodus ii. shows plainly that the 
Israelites, living in isolation in Gessen,* had retained the speech of their 
forefathers, and that Moses, in spite of his position at court, felt himself 
to be a Hebrew and not an Egyptian. 


(g) There is unity, circumspection and system in the com- 
position of the book. It is dominated by the thought that the 
Israelites had been chosen out from among all the nations of 
the world to be the recipients of God’s revelation, and to main- 
tain the right worship of God, and also that at some period 
redemption for the whole world should proceed from them. 
For this reason they had to be cut off from the Gentiles and 
their polytheistic errors, and were to dwell in Chanaan and 
faithfully serve their God. Only what can stimulate and estab- 
lish this thought is admitted into the book. All else is either 
passed over in silence, or mentioned briefly as of subordinate 
importance and then set aside. 


1 The Vulgate has Gessen; Hebrew goschen, Septuagint gesem, 


272 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


(c) Objections 


Objection 1. “It has been proved that the accounts given in-the Penta- 
teuch of the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Deluge, the institution of the 
Sabbath, the doctrine of angels and devils, might all have been read as 
early as 2000 B. c. in the cuneiform records of Babylon. They were bor- 
rowed from there and admitted to the Bible, but they are not based upon 
revelation, and Moses was not their author.” 

Such views as the above are expressed by Delitzsch and Zimmern. 

Answer. These assertions have been refuted in a large number of 
works by Keil, Nikel, Déller, Kaulen, Hoberg, Hommel, Budde, Kénig, 
Jensen, Barth, Jeremias, Knieschke and others, but especially by H. Hil- 
precht (see infra, p. 476), who has for a long time been working at the 
excavations in Babylon. The truth is that the Babylonians derived their 
information from the same source as the Bible, viz. from the primitive 
tradition of the human race. But Whereas on the Euphrates this tradi- 
tion was obscured by fantastic and polytheistic additions (e.g. the great 
flood is ascribed to a whim on the part of the gods, who then themselves 
became anxious and crouched down like dogs, hurried to a sacrifice like 
flies, ete.), the account given in the Bible has preserved the dignified 
purity of the oldest period. The resemblances can be explained by com- 
munity of origin, the great divergencies by the fall of Babylon into 
idolatry.* 

Objection 2. “ May not the Law of the Pentateuch have been modeled 
on that of the Babylonian King Hammurabi, who as early as 2100 B.c. 
had compiled a collection of laws, remarkable for acumen and wisdom, 
arranged them in 282 paragraphs, and recorded them on stone? ” 

Answer. Hammurabi is now generally identified with Amraphel, men- 
tioned in Genesis xiv. 1, who, in Abraham’s lifetime, took part in a 
campaign against Palestine (supra, p. 263). His code of laws in cunei- 
form writing originated in Babylon, but was brought to Susa, the capital 
of the old kingdom of Elam. In 1897-99 it was brought to light by 
French excavators. The Dominican Father Scheil, noted for his knowl- 
edge of cuneiform inscriptions, published it in French, and Hugo Winkler 
translated it into German (Leipzig, 1902). The original is undoubtedly 
one of the most important documents in the history of the ancient world. 
With extraordinary wisdom the laws regulate the public and private life 
of the nation, their trade and traffic. They prove that Moses might well 
have acted as a legislator, several centuries later. A comparison of Ham- 
murabi’s laws with the Mosaic decrees reveals some similarities, but there 


1 Of. especially Father Keil’s learned work on Babel und Bibel, Tréves, 
1903; also Nikel, Genesis und Keilschriftforschung, February, 1903. In 
a review of the latter work Hehn remarks: “The individuality of the 
Bible is now universally recognized; that the explorations at Babylon can 
endanger the interests of religion is already out of the question.” In an- 
other work Hehn says that we must reject the idea that the institution of 
the Sabbath was borrowed from Babylon, as in Babylonia nothing analo- 
gous to it has been discovered. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 273 


can be no suggestion that the latter are modeled upon or borrowed from 
the former. 

Objection 3. “ The work contains many parallel passages, which would 
certainly have been avoided, had it been written by one author.” 

Answer. The chief passages of this kind are the apparently double ac- 
count of the Creation, Genesis i. 1 to 1i.3 and ii. 4, ete.; and also Genesis 
xx. and xxvi., where the same story is told first of Abraham and then of 
Isaac. However, the second account of the Creation would be unintelli- 
gible without the first; the two versions supplement each other, but they 
have different objects. The first is intended to describe the creation of 
the world, and to throw light on religion and especially on the observ- 
ance of the Sabbath; the second is concerned with the history of the 
world, and contains its beginning. With regard to the other passages, it 
is quite possible for the son to have an experience resembling that of the 
father under similar circumstances. 

Objection 4. *“*So much obscurity and confusion, so many omissions, 
mutilations and repetitions occur in the Pentateuch, especially in the 
three middle books, that we are forced to assume several persons to have 
been engaged in its compilation.” 

Answer.’ But how is it possible to judge a work thousands of years old 
by our standards, and to require of the author strict conformity to the 
laws of grammar and logic, as we understand them? Can the chronologi- 
eal order, that is maintained throughout the whole work, be mere confu- 
sion? All these difficulties can be removed by unprejudiced exegesis. Cf. 
supra, p. 271 (g). 

Objection 5. “ The alternating use of the names Elohim and Yahweh in 
speaking of God is alone enough to prove that the Pentateuch is not the 
work of one author.” 

Answer. This assertion may be so far accurate that Moses incorpor- 
ated into his work other documents containing the name Elohim, whereas 
he himself preferred to use the name Jehovah (Yahweh), which was espe- 
cially made known to him by God (Ex. ili. 14). The meanings of the two 
names may, however, be the reason why a single author should use some- 
times one and sometimes the other. Elohim is an abstract noun or a 
pluralis excellentie of the singular Hloah. These two words are derived 
from the root alah, which means in Arabic when intransitive, “to be 
amazed, to fear,” and when transitive, “ to honor, to worship,” so that the 
name Elohim denotes a being most apt to inspire fear or most worthy 
of reverence. (Many think it better not to separate the name from £I. 
El is derived from the root ’ul, to surpass, be strong, and its meaning 
would be “ Strong, Mighty.” The plural Hlohim’* means in this way “ the 
Mightiest,” “the conception of all power.” 

Yahweh,’ derived from the verb 11 =71'7 means “the Being.” It is 


1 This plural is, perhaps, a kind of substitute for a superlative that 
does not exist in Hebrew; but it is more likely that it refers to the 
three Persons in God, i.e. to the Trinity. 

* This seems to represent the correct pronunciation. The Jews al- 
ways read Adonai (Lord) whenever the name 7 occurs in the sacred 
books, and the Masoretes gave the word the vowel mark for Adonai, be- 


274 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the future kal (in the same way as 3)pj!", one who waylays, or pny’, a 
mocker). Such forms denote a permanent condition. Yahweh is there- 
fore He “ who is and who was and who is to come” (Apoc. i. 8), He who 
has absolute Being from Himself, the Eternal, Unchangeable. As the 
form suggests also the causative (Hiphil) it might perhaps mean also 
“He who communicates His Being.” * In any case the name is Hebrew, 
and denotes God especially as the Lord of Israel, the God of the cove- 
nant, whilst Elohim stands for God as ruler of the world and of all 
nations. The Gentiles also used the name Elohim (Judges i. 7; Jon. 
i. 6). When reference is made to God as the Creator and Lord of the 
world, the name Elohim is generally used; but the name Yahweh occurs 
when the writer is alluding to the God who has revealed Himself to 
mankind and especially to Israel. This is in a peculiar manner the 
Second Person of the Godhead, who was in time to assume human na- 
ture. The Yahweh or Adonai or xtpwos of the Pentateuch and of all the 
Old Testament corresponds, therefore, with the Adyos and xvpuios *Inadis 
Xpiorés of the New Testament.” Cf. I Cor. x. 9; Heb. xii. 2; Jude 5; 
Apoe. i. 8. 


—_— 


cause it must not be spoken in vain, in violation of the Second Com- 
mandment. Thus arose the form Jehovah, which is certainly wrong. 
The Septuagint did not venture upon any translation; in their time 
people must already have read Adonai, because they always wrote kvpios 
in its place (Itala and Vulgate, Dominus). That Yahweh is the correct 
pronunciation is apparent from Theodoretus (Quest. ad Eaod., 15): 
KaNovot 5€ a’rd Sapapetrar LABE. 

* Hommel derives the name from the old Arabie verb hawaja (Heb. 
hajah) and explains it as meaning “ He exists, comes into existence, 
reveals Himself.” Cornill refers to the Arabic hawé = to fall, and 
thinks that the meaning is “ He who makes to fall,” i.e. the God of 
storms, who overthrows His enemies with His thunderbolt. Delitzsch 
considers Hl = goal (as in Heb. el =to), but this interpretation is too 
philosophical to be in keeping with early Semitic ideas. Delitzsch states 
that the name Yahweh was used in Babylon at the time of Hammurabi 
(2200 B.c.), but this is generally pronounced to be a mistake on his 
part. Even if he were correct, it would not destroy the value of Exo- 
dus iii. The true God might well communicate to Moses the sense in 
which He claimed this name for Himself. 

? Too little attention is paid, even by Catholics, to the fact that God 
Himself is the originator of Holy Scripture, and chose this name there- 
fore. We consider the human element in it too much, and we keep this 
in the foreground when we argue from these names that there must 
have been various authors. It is true that critics do not lay so much 
stress upon these names as they used to do, but, ever since the time of 
Astrue the whole criticism of the Pentateuch has depended upon 
them. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 275 


SECOND SECTION 


THE PERIOD FROM THE ENTRANCE OF THE ISRAELITES 
INTO CHANAAN TO THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM 


3. SURVEY 


The second period of the history of Israel may be divided into 
three parts: (1) The conquest of the Promised Land soon after 
the death of Moses and Aaron. (2) The time of the Judges, 
divinely inspired men who ruled the people. (3) The estab- 
lishment of a monarchy by Samuel, the last of the Judges, and 
the reigns of the first three kings. 

The following are the sacred books belonging to this period: 

(a) Historical books: Josue, Judges, Ruth, two books of 
Samuel (in the Vulgate, [ and II Books of Kings). 

(b) Poetical books: Psalms, Job, Canticle of Canticles. 

(c) Didactic books: Proverbs of Solomon and Ecclesiastes, or 
the Preacher. 


HISTORICAL BOOKS 


4. JCSUE 
(24 chapters) 


1. Contents. Chapters 1-12, Conquest of the greater part of 
the Holy Land. 13-19, Distribution of the country. 20-22, 
Cities of Refuge and Cities for the Levites. 23 and 24, End 
of Josue’s life, his last counsels and death. 


1. Josue assumes the government of the nation, and is ordered by 
God to cross the Jordan and conquer the country. 2. Israelite spies 
fall into danger at Jericho, but are saved by a woman named Rahab. 
3, 4. The Israelites cross the Jordan dry-shod. 5. Revival of circum- 
cision. 6. Fall of Jericho, and later, 7, of Ai. 8. Blessing and curse at 
Sichem, according to Deuteronomy xxvii. 2, ete. 9. The Chanaanite 
kings prepare for resistance. 10. The south of the country passes into 
the possession of the Israelites through the wonderful intervention of 
God.t 11. After a battle near Lake Merom, the northern part also is 


* Much has been said and written about the standing still of the 
sun (x. 13). It would be simpler if we might explain the matter natu- 
rally, and say: “It remained light so unusually long. that it seemed as 


276 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


subdued. 12. Survey of the conquered lands. 13-19. The tribes of 
Ruben, Gad and half of Manasses, having already made settlements east 
of the Jordan, retire thither, after having assisted their brethren to 
conquer Chanaan. The other tribes receive land in the west according 
to their numbers. The tribe of Levi receives no continuous territory. 
The Tabernacle is set up in Silo. 20-22. The cities of refuge are ap- 
pointed and forty-eight districts assigned to the tribe of Levi, as had 
been commanded (Num. xxxv.). 23, 24. The elders gather round Josue, 
who feels his death approaching; he urges them to be faithful to the 
law, makes them renew the Covenant with God, and dies at the age of 
one hundred and ten. 

Critics who do not belong to the Catholic Church now reckon the Book 
of Josue as belonging to the Pentateuch, and thus a Hexateuch is formed, 
written by various authors, and containing the early history of Israel. In 
the Book of Josue J, E and P are said to be clearly distinguishable 
as sources of information. The work displays, however, a uniform 
independent character; it contains an account of the manner in which 
the divine command (i. 2, etc.) to take possession of the Holy Land 
was carried into effect, and at the same time it shows God’s fidelity 
in fulfilling His promises (xxi. 41). This appears also in passages 
such as xiii. 9, ete., and xx. 8, which would seem unnecessary repetitions 
of Numbers xxxii. 33, ete., and Deuteronomy iv. 41-43, if this book really 
belonged to the Pentateuch. The Jewish canon never classed Josue with 
the Pentateuch, but invariably with the Prophets. 


2. Date and Author. As the book bears the name of Josue, 
he is generally regarded as its author; but there are several 
passages indicating that it is of later date. They are iv. 9, 
“Josue put other twelve stones in the midst of the channel 
of the Jordan, . . . and they are there until this present day.” 
x. 14, “‘ There was not before nor after so long a day.” xix. 47, 
“The children of Dan went up and fought against Lesem, and 
took it . . . and dwelt in it, calling the name of it Lesser Dan.” 

We must, however, not assume that the book was written as 
late as the time of the kings. In xv. 63 the Jebusites are men- 
tioned as inhabiting Jerusalem, whilst it is clear from II Kings 
vy. 5-9, that David expelled them, so the book must have ex- 
isted before David’s reign; in fact, it must have been written 


if the sun were standing still.’ The story, however, clearly implies that 
a miracle took place. How this can be reconciled with the laws govern- 
ing the universe is as far beyond the powers of mortals to decide as it 
is to ascertain how water could be turned into wine, or how wine can 
become the Blood of Christ. In the Book of Job (xxxviii.—xli.) God 
teaches man not to judge of what is too high for him, as even the natu- 
ral world contains so many mysteries that he cannot fathom, 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 277 


much earlier, as in xi. 8 and xix. 28, Sidon is called the chief 
city of Pheenicia, and in David’s time Tyre had long been the 
capital.t We may therefore believe that Josue wrote the book, 
but some later hand added numerous remarks to it. Such is 
the tradition of the Jews and of the Western Church. Or we 
may believe the author to have lived not long after Josue, and 
to have made use of records written by Josue. Those who favor 
the latter theory think that it may have been compiled bv 
Phinees, son of Eleazar the high priest, and grandson of Aaron, 
who is mentioned in xxii. 13, xxiv. 33. In this case the work 
would be called the Book of Josue, not because Josue was its 
author, but because it contains the history of Josue and his 
deeds. 


5. Tue Book oF JUDGES 
(21 chapters) 


1. Contents. Israel is defended by God against the Gentiles 
in the Promised Land. 


(a) Introduction. Chapters 1-3. Some of the Chanaanites are spared 
and occupy the country with the Israelites. The unfortunate result of 
this arrangement is that they become dependent upon the Gentiles, and 
idolatry spreads among them also. 

(b) Chief portion of the book. Chapters 3-16. This clearly reveals 
the purpose with which it was written, namely to show that the fortunes 
of the Israelites varied in accordance with their obedience or disobedi- 
ence to the law. As often as they rebelled against it, they fell into 
slavery, but as soon as they returned to their allegiance they were res- 
cued by the judges. Some of these judges are mentioned very briefly; 
a full account is given of others. The most conspicuous are Barak, with 
the prophetess Debora; Gedeon, whose son Abimelech aimed at su- 
premacy and was therefore put to death; Jephte and Samson. The last 
distinguished himself in the war against the Philistines, new enemies 
who had come from Egypt (supra, p. 20). 

The name Judges (shophetim, the same word as suffetes, the chief 
magistrates in Carthage) does not only imply that these men judged the 
people according to the Mosaic law (I Kings vii. 15, ete.), but also that 
they had power of government, and led the nation in war. They pro- 
cured justice for the individual Israelite against the malice of his 
own countrymen, and for the whole nation against the Gentiles. They 


* According to the Kirchenlexikon, 1st ed., VIII, 430, it had been 
the capital since 1209 B.c, 


278 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


won their position not by inheritance or election, but by their great 
achievements. 

The following judges are mentioned by name: (1) Othoniel (of the 
tribe of Juda), (2) Aod (Benjamin), (3) Samgar (7), (4) Jahel (7), 
(5) Debora (Ephraim), (6) Barak (Nephtali), (7) Gedeon (Manasses), 
(8) Thola (Issachar), (9) Jair (Gad), (10) Jephte (Gad), (11) 
Abesan (Juda or Zabulon), (12) Ahialon (Zabulon), (13) Abdon 
(Ephraim), (14) Samson (Dan). The judges (15) Heli and (16) 
Samuel of the tribe of Levi are not mentioned before the Book of Samuel 
(I Kings). 

(c) Appendix. Chapters 17 and 18. Prohibition of worship on 
Mount Ephraim and its transference by the tribe of Dan to Lais in the 
north of the country (see p. 103). 19-21. War of the eleven tribes 
against Benjamin, to punish an offense that had been committed. 


2. The records of time in this book must not simply be added 
up, but we must assume that some of the periods were con- 
current. According to III Kings vi. 1, only 480 years elapsed 
from the time when the Israelites left Egypt to the building of 
Solomon’s Temple, but the periods mentioned in Judges alone 
would amount to almost 400 years, and we have still to take 
into account the 40 years’ sojourn in the Wilderness, 40 years 
of Saul’s reign, 40 years of David’s reign and 4 years of Solo- 
mon’s. It seems, therefore, that the time of the Judges cannot 
have lasted more than about 350 years, unless perhaps there 
is some flaw in the text regarding the numbers. 

3. Date and Author. The book was written in the time of 
the kings, as in xvii. 6, xvill. 1 and 31, xxi. 24 we read that 
there was no king in Israel in those days. The author ascribes 
many evils to the absence of a regular government; and as he 
seems to have seen no rulers of the type of Roboam and Jero- 
boam, he must have lived before the division of the kingdom. 
We may go back beyond the reigns of Solomon and David to 
that of Saul, because the Jebusites are mentioned (i. 21; ¢éf. 
xix. 12) as still inhabiting Jerusalem. The accounts of the 
various events are the work not of one, but of several authors. 
This is proved by the variety in the language. 


Debora’s song (chap. v.) shows archaisms; the history of Gedeon has 
always & instead of W8 for the relative, and the story of Samson is 
distinguished by the frequent recurrence of “ The spirit of the Lord came 
upon him.” 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 279 


Whoever collected these stories probably himself added the in- 
troduction and the appendix. In the Talmud Samuel is named 
as the author, and his last speech (I Kings xii. 7, etc.) shows 
considerable resemblance to the line of thought followed in the 
Book of Judges. 

4. Objection. The expression geloth haarez==taking away 
of the land (xviii. 30) seems to refer to a much later date than 
that of Samuel, for it was not until 722 that the land of the 
northern tribes passed into the hands of the Assyrians. We 
probably ought to read geloth haaron = taking away of the Ark 
of the Covenant. This took place in Samuel’s time, for the 
Philistines seized the Ark. 


6. Rots? 


(4 chapters) 


1. Contents. This little book tells in four chapters how a poor 
widow named Ruth, from the heathen land of Moab, became the 
wife of Boaz or Boas, a wealthy man in Bethlehem. From their 
marriage Obed was born, and his son was Jesse (Isai), David’s 
father. Thus Boaz and Ruth were the king’s great-grand- 
parents. 

2. Motwe. The events related are purely a matter of family 
history, but there can be no doubt that the book originated in 
their connection with King David; and therefore has some higher 
significance. One of its objects seems to be to draw the atten- 
tion of the Israelites to the fact that God did not absolutely 
reject the Gentiles, as a Gentile woman was admitted to the 
line of David, that inherited a special blessing, and she thus 
became the ancestress of the future Messias. 


The readiness with which Orpha and especially Ruth followed their 
mother-in-law Noemi from their heathen home to the land of Juda must 
have been due to the virtuous life of Noemi and her family, which con- 
trasted with the barbarous customs of the Gentiles. The reason was that 


1 9 perhaps = yyy, i.e. Friend. In ancient times this book was 
often reckoned as part of Judges. The first words suggest that it was 
an appendix to it: “In the days of one of the judges, when the judges 
ruled.” The Jewish canon now places Ruth among the Ketubim. 


280 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


they worshiped the true God. When Ruth declared “ thy God shall be 
my God,” she acknowledged the excellence of the Israelite religion, and 
was determined to renounce heathenism. Thus to some extent she de- 
served the honor of being the ancestress of David, and through him of the 
Messias. 

3. Date. Ruth lived about one hundred years before David, 
and the book was written either during his reign or not long 
after. His pedigree at the end of the book points to its having 
been composed after his death, and the words in iv. 7, referring 
to the custom of taking off a shoe in token of renouncing a 
claim, with the addition: “That was a custom of ages ago in 
Israel,” indicate a later origin. 

4. Author. The writer of the book is unknown. The Talmud 
(baba bathra f. 14 b.) ascribes rt to Samuel, but this is probably 
wrong. ‘The differences in the language show that the author 
cannot be identified with that of the Book of Judges, nor with 
the writer of the Books of Samuel.* 


%. Tur Books oF SAMUEL 


In the Vulgate: First and Second Books of Kings 
(31 and 24 chapters) 


1. Contents. These books contain the history of the intro- 
duction of monarchy into Israel, and of the first two kings; the 
first book carries the history to the death of Saul and the second 
to the end of David’s reign. 'The first twelve chapters give the 
story of Heli, judge and high priest, and of Samuel. 


I Samuel. 1. Elkana, Samuel’s father, and his mother, Anna. Samuel 
is dedicated to God and serves in the Tabernacle at Silo. 2, 3. Heli, the 
high priest, as a father is weak in his dealings with Ophni and Phinees, 
his degenerate sons; he is threatened with God’s vengeance. 4. War with 
the Philistines; removal of the Ark of the Covenant. Death of Heli and 
his sons. 5, 6. The Philistines suffer misfortunes on account of the Ark, 
so they restore it, but remain masters of the country. 7. Samuel con- 
quers the Philistines and practically becomes supreme. 8, 9. The people 
demand a king; Samuel yields and anoints Saul. 10-12. Saul is brave, 
wins respect, and Samuel retires. 13. Renewal of war with the Philis- 


* So Kaulen. Weiss on the other hand believes, with Haneberg, that 
Samuel wrote the Book of Ruth at Najoth at the same time as the 
fifty-ninth Psalm. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 281 


tines. 14-16. Saul repeatedly disobeys God, and therefore Samuel is 
forced to anoint David, though very young, to be the future king. 17. 
David conquers Goliath; his friendship with Jonathan, one of Saul’s 
sons, and his marriage with Saul’s daughter Michol. 18-31. Saul’s jeal- 
ousy and hatred of David, whom he seeks to kill. David has to lead a 
life of adventure. Sauland Jonathan die in battle against the Philistines. 

IT Samuel. 1-3. David is recognized by the tribe of Juda as king, 
and takes up his abode at Hebron. Elsewhere Saul’s son Isboseth is re- 
garded as king. 4. Isboseth is murdered, and all the tribes accept David 
as their ruler. 5, 6. He conquers the stronghold of Sion and makes 
Jerusalem his residence. He sets up the Tabernacle on Sion. 7. David 
is not allowed to build a temple for the Lord, but receives the promise 
that his kingdom shall last forever. 8, 9. David sins grievously through 
lust; he does penance. 10-19. His sons Ammon and Absalom cause him 
much trouble.t 20-23. Other difficulties are overcome. David’s gratitude 
to God. 24. His enumeration of the people through pride, and his 
punishment for it. 


2. Name. The books bear the name of Samuel only because 
he is one of the chief. characters in the history, and, especially 
in the first book, he is the chief actor. He cannot have been 
the author, as many events are recorded that occurred long after 
his death. The two books were originally united, but they were 
divided by the Greek translators, and hence appear as two in the 
Itala and the Vulgate. In the Hebrew Bible the division was not 
made until 1518. The Vulgate, like the Septuagint, calls them 
the First and Second books of Kings, and consequently the other 
books of Kings, that are of much later origin, are numbered 
Third and Fourth (see p. 334). 

3. Date. ‘he work was written after the division of the 
kingdom, but before the destruction of the northern part; 1. e. 
between 932 and 722. ‘The first statement depends upon the 
words in J Samuel xxvii. 6: “ Siceleg belongeth to the kings of 
Juda unto this day,” the second upon the fact that there is no 


* In chapter xii. 31 the Hebrew reading should perhaps be VAY ; 
if we may accept it, it alters the story of David’s remarkable cruelty 
to the inhabitants of Rabbath Ammon, for then we read not of fearful 
forms of death, but of condemnation to compulsory service. In the 
parallel passage, I Chronicles xx. 3, the reading should be bw) and not 
Ww), as Kautzsch and others have it. 

2 Peters is inclined to prefer the Septuagint text to ae Masoretie, 
especially from I Samuel xvi. ] to xix. 18. The Masoretic text is longer, 
and seems to contain interpolations, and it is in fact much later than 
that used by the Septuagint. 


282 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


allusion at all in the book to the destruction of the northern 
kingdom. 

4, Author. The writer is unknown. Old commentators 
ascribed the first twenty-four chapters to Samuel and the rest 
to the prophets Gad and Nathan. The character of the work is 
uniform and it shows design in its composition, so we may re- 
gard it as certain that the author, who was probably a prophet 
living under the kings, made use of the records left by these 
three men, and skillfully adapted them to suit this work. 

5. His purpose was to show that both the people of Israel and 
their kings could find happiness only in obedience to God. 


POETICAL BOOKS 
8. Oxtp TESTAMENT POETRY IN GENERAL? 


1. Varieties of Poetry. In the sacred literature of Israel 
lyric and didactic poetry attained a high degree of development. 
The one often passes into the other; many of the Psalms are 
didactic rather than lyric, whilst the didactic book of Job con- 
tains several lyric passages. 

Epic and dramatic poetry do not occur. Epos and Drama 
would be out of place in the sacred books, as they generally pre- 
suppose works of the imagination, which would be inconsistent 
with the divine revelation that communicates only truth. The 
Hebrews may have possessed some profane poetry, such as 
Lamech’s defiant war song (Gen. iv. 23), but religious poetry 
held the place of honor among God’s people, as all poetry in 
general originated in worship. 

2. Rhythm. Hebrew poems possess a definite rhythm, i.e. a 
movement regulated in accordance with certain laws, and a 
systematic structure of the parts of the verse. The parallelism 
in the clauses is peculiar to Hebrew poets and is very distinctive. 
The poet is not satisfied with expressing a thought in one clause, 


* Kautzsch, Poesie des A. T., Tiib., 1902, is of opinion that the poetical 
books are of late origin, mostly after the Captivity, but tradition as- 
signs them to a much earlier period. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 283 


but he expresses it again in parallel clauses, resembling one 
another in meaning and form, and these constitute the verse. 
For instance: 


My son, hear the instruction of thy father, 
And forsake not the law of thy mother. 


Prov. 1. 8. 
or, 
Then was our mouth filled with gladness, 
And our tongue with joy. Psalm exxv. 2. 
or, 


[The wicked] shall be as chaff before the face 
of the wind, and as ashes which the whirl- 
wind scattereth. Job. xxi. 18. 


In the Psalms of the Roman Breviary the asterisk, marking the 
pause to be made in choir, often indicates this parallelism, which 
is, however, not always complete, one of the clauses being only 
imperfectly developed. Sometimes the second clause does not 
contain a repetition so much as a contrast or a new idea. These 
three kinds of parallelism all conduce to make the meaning 
clear. 


The Hebrew poets were not acquainted with the use of rhyme, and, 
though rhymed verses occur, it is very doubtful whether the rhyme is 
intentional or accidental. It is uncertain whether real meters were in 
use. Recent scholars maintain that a trochaic and an iambic meter can 
be traced in at least some poems; that there is, for instance, a 12- 
syllabled trochaic meter in the third Lamentation of Jeremias, and a 
7-syllabled iambic in the 111th and 112th Psalms. This theory has not 
vet been generally accepted. Its acceptance would involve great vio- 
lence being done to the Masoretic text, as the vowels would mostly have 
to be altered. More attractive is a theory put forward by J. K. Zenner, 
S.J., who thinks that the Psalms and other songs in the Old Testament 
(e.g. Eeclesiasticus xxiv., Baruch ili. 9, ete.) were originally proces- 
sional songs, sung by a choir with instrumental accompaniment and 
stately gestures, so that the three arts of poetry, music and dancing were 
united. These songs can be divided into strophe, antistrophe and transi- 
tion. Where a strophe ends, there stands in seventy-one places in the 
Book of Psalms the hitherto inexplicable word Sela (see p. 286), which 
certainly is one of the old technical terms in use among the Levites, 
and indicates a change. Thus Psalm vii. falls into the following parts: 
verses 1-3, strophe; 4-6, antistrophe; 7-10, transition; 11-14, second 
strophe; 15-18, second antistrophe. Psalm xe: verses 1-3, strophe; 4-6, 
antistrophe; 7-10, transition; 11-13 second strophe; 14-16, second 
antistrophe. This arrangement explains also the alternation of speakers 
in this psalm. Also among the heathen nations of antiquity it was 


284 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


usual to go round the altar, on which the sacrifices were burnt, in stately 
processions or dances in honor of the deity. 


3. Versification. The ordinary verses in Hebrew poetry con- 
sist of two lines, but ¢ristichs and tetrastichs occur, and occa- 
sionally verses with five or six lines. Some poems are arranged 
according to the letters of the alphabet, probably in order to 
be more easily committed to memory. Such, for instance, are 
the Lamentations, Psalm exviiil. and Proverbs xxx1. 


9. THe PSALTER 


1. Name. The canon of the Old Testament contains a col- 
lection of one hundred and fifty songs, some long and some short, 
which compose the Book of Psalms (Vulg.: Psalmorum liber) 
or Psalter (C. Trid.: Psalterium). The word “ psalm” (spares 
taken from the Septuagint) means primarily playing on a 
stringed instrument,t and then a song sung to such music. 
Psalter = stringed instrument, and then, by transference, a col- 
lection of songs. In Hebrew the psalms are called tehillim or 
tillim, songs of praise.* 

2. Date of Origin and Authors. The Psalms were not com- 
posed all at one time, nor are they the work of one man, but 
they were written by various divinely inspired singers and subse- 
quently collected. Most of them have headings containing the 
author’s name, and often also the time and occasion of compo- 
sition, as well as directions for singing them. These headings 
are the work of the collectors, not of the composers of the 
Psalms, and the information that they contain is derived from 
Jewish tradition. In these headings the following authors are 
mentioned by name: 





* According to Suidas Wdaddevw is to strike the strings of an instru- 
ment with the finger-tips, hence Yadués is playing in this manner. 

2 odonn, pdn from bon, to praise, extol. 

’ Modern critics attach a very slight importance to these headings, 
and aim at ascertaining the date and origin of the Psalms from interne] 
evidence alone. So Cornill and Reuss. lLegarde thought that these 
headings designated not the composer, but the party of musicians in the 
Temple, to whom particular psalms were assigned for performance; so 
that one song was described as assigned to David, another to Solomon, 
others to Asaph, Core, etc., but tradition is against this theory. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 285 


1. Moses. The eighty-ninth (Heb. ninetieth) psalm is ascribed to 
him. 

2. David. The whole Book of Psalms is often called by his name, 
and correctly in as far as he began to make the collection; he com- 
posed many psalms himself and the rest breathe his spirit. The Hebrew 
text assigns seventy-three psalms to him, the Septuagint and Vulgate 
add twelve others, so that in all eighty-five are ascribed to him, or, 
with Psalm Ixxi., eighty-six. 

3. Solomon is mentioned as having composed two psalms, Ixxi. and 
exxvi. The heading of the former is in Hebrew, “To Solomon” lesche- 
‘ lomo, and the Seventy render this els Zadkwuay = on Solomon. Most 
writers, therefore, assume that it was not composed by Solomon, but by 
David, according to verse 20: “ The praises of David, the son of Jesse, 
are ended.” Solomon is extolled as a type of the Messias. 

4. Asaph, son of Barachias, a Levite and one of David’s musicians, 
is stated in the headings to have written twelve psalms (xlix. and Ixxii. 
On exmsic) 

5. Eleven of the finest psalms, remarkable for their lyric force (xli., 
xliii.—xlviii., Ixxxiii., Ixxxiv., Ixxxvi. and Ixxxvii.), are ascribed to the 
Corahites, the family of Core the Levite. Psalm Ixxxvii. is particularly 
ascribed to a Corahite named Eman, a descendant of Esdras. 

6. Psalm Ixxxviil. was composed by Ethan, another descendant of 
Esdras, and probably also a Corahite. . 


The remaining thirty-eight psalms bear no indication of their 
origin, and their authors are unknown. ‘They are called “ owner- 
less ” (adéo7rorot), and in the Talmud “ orphaned.” 

Modern critics, such as Hitzig, Olshausen, Reuss and others, 
regard some psalms as Machabean, i.e. they believe them not 
to have been composed until the time of the Machabees, viz., in 
the second century before Christ. To this class belong Psalms 
Ixxii., Ixxvii. and cxvii. Not only the headings, but also the 
tradition of the Jews refer them to an earlier period, and, more- 
over, in the time of the Machabees the Book of Psalms had 
already been translated into Greek. 


It is not absolutely impossible that some of the psalms may have been 
composed in the time of the Machabees, for educated people still used 
Hebrew, and the Seventy did not complete their work much before 
130 B.c. The newly discovered remains of the Hebrew text of Ecclesias- 
ticus prove, however, that the Psalter existed in its present size at the 
time when Ecclesiasticus was written. Cf. infra, p. 353. 


3. Purpose. As the headings and the final verses of many 
psalms show, the Psalter was a book containing the songs sung 


286 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


by the Levites at the public worship of the Israelites. Now the 
Psalms have become forms of prayer in use in the Church, and 
especially appointed for recitation by the clergy. 


Psalm. xci. has the heading, ‘‘ Song for the Sabbath day.” Psalm e. 
(in the Hebrew), ‘“ Psalm at the thank offering.” Several psalms are 
inscribed “ Alleluia ” = “ Praise the Lord”; an invitation to the con- 
gregation. In the headings the word lamnazzeach occurs fifty-three 
times; it is generally translated “to the chief musician”; the Seventy 
must have pointed the word my309 differently, as they translated it els 
rédos (Itala and Vulgate in finem), which may be an indication that the 
psalm was to be sung at the conclusion of public worship. The expres- 
sion sela (ny) is generally translated tace (Imp. P. with 1 parag., 
from n2¥) ; Maurer renders it “raise” (the voice), so that it means 
forte or fortius. The Septuagint has d:ayadua, music in the interval. 
Gittith (Ps. vili. and elsewhere).is undoubtedly a stringed instrument 
(from HN, to strike). Kaulen draws attention to the fact that the 
liturgical function of many of the psalms that are personal in tone may 
be discovered from their coneluson. For instance, Psalm iii., which is 
otherwise in the first person, ends with the words: “Thy blessing is 
upon thy people.” Psalm exxxi. is similar. 

The frequently recurring “I” of the Psalms seems to be a kind of 
answer to the laws of the Pentateuch, which are mostly given with 
“thou” (as, for instance, in the Decalogue), for God regards His people 
Israel as one individual. This “I” is also an allusion on the part of 
the Holy Spirit to both the ancient theocracy and the Messianic king- 
dom, the Church, which our Saviour describes as a Kingdom of God both 
on a large and on a small scale, both in mankind in general and in each 
individual. For this reason the Psalms are adapted to God’s universal 
Church and to each of His servants, and especially for His Servant kar’ 
efownv, the Messias. The enemies against whom complaints are raised in 
the Psalms are the opponents of God and His Anointed, as well as of His 
Church and of the faithful individually, who are despised and _ perse- 
cuted for their loyalty to God. The psalms of imprecation (xxxiv., li., 
Ixvili., evili., Vulgate) are to be judged from this point of view, and not 
regarded as the imprecations of a single person. This explanation 
solves the difficult problem how curses can be reconciled with the law 
of love. Who ever will not turn to God, but attacks God’s kingdom and 
those belonging to it, loses peace, which is a mark of God’s favor, and 
brings down a curse upon himself. He is warned in these psalms of 
imprecation of the doom that his wickedness deserves. Personal hatred 
is as little implied as in Noe’s curse laid upon his son Cham. Besides, 
it is not reasonable to apply to the Old Covenant the standard of the 
New. Strict justice dominated the one, love and mercy the other (see 
infra, p. 357). 

The Psalms are, therefore: (1) Prayers of individuals under (a) the 
Old and (b) the New Covenant; (2) Prayers of the whole congregation 
of the faithful under (a) the Old and (b) the New Covenant; (3) 
Prayers of the Messias, who speaks not only in His own Name but in 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 287 


the name of each of the faithful and in that of all mankind who 
believe. 

This does not, however, mean that to every psalm this threefold or 
fivefold description applies. We have here evidence that Holy Scripture 
must be inspired by God, for no human being would of himself be able 
to impart such manifold meaning to the sacred songs. 


4. Date of Collection. The collection of psalms, as we have 
it, is very ancient, but cannot go back beyond the Captivity, as 
in it are some psalms which clearly were written either during 
or after the period of exile (lxxxiv., cv., cVi., CXxXV., CXXXV1.). 
Collections of particular psalms must, however, have existed 
earlier. We know that David caused religious songs to be sung 
in the Tabernacle, thus adding to the beauty of the worship 
there, and for this purpose a collection of such songs was 
requisite (I Chron. xvi. 41; II Chron. xxii. 18; I Esdr. 11. 10). 
This collection and others like it were incorporated in the gen- 
eral collection made after the Captivity. That it consists of 
parts, some of which are older than others, appears from the 
_words at the close of Psalm lxxi., “The praises of David, the 
son of Jesse, are ended.” All, therefore, that precedes these 
words belongs to the first collection. 'The collection as we have 
it was made at the time when the worship of God was restored 
by Esdras and Nehemias (II Mach. un. 13). 

5. Divisions of the Psalter. On the analogy of the Penta- 
teuch, the Psalter is divided into five parts, or books, which can 
be distinguished by the doxology at the close of each. The first 
book contains Psalms i.—xl.; the second, Psalms xli.—lxxi.; the 
third, Psalms Ixxii.—lxxxviul.; the fourth, Psalms Ixxxix.-cv.; the 
fifth, Psalms evi—cl. This division corresponds with the five 
periods in which the different collections were made. The first 
dates from the time when the ark was set up on Sion (I Chron. 
xvi. 4); the second, from the close of David’s life and Solomon’s 
accession, to which Psalm Ixxi. refers; the. third belongs to the 
time of Ezechias (II Chron. xxix. 30). A fourth may have been 
made during the reign of Josias (II Chron. xxxv. 15). The 
songs in the fifth book contain many references to the Captivity 
and the return to Palestine. The general collection of all the 
psalms was made by Esdras and Nehemias, who did not merely 


288 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


arrange the five previous collections, one after the other, but 
inserted in each of them other songs, some old and some new. 
It is possible that one or two more were added at the time of 
the Machabees, to bring the number up to 150. 

6. Numbering. The numbering of the psalms in the Hebrew 
text differs from that of the Vulgate, which we generally use, 
and which is derived from the Septuagint. The Seventy put 
Psalms ix. and x. together; treating them as one. Thus the 
number assigned to each of the following psalms was one less 
than in the Hebrew as far as Psalm cxiv., which they put with 
cxv., so that these two together are numbered cxii. But in 
compensation they divided cxvi. into two, so that cxvil. in the 
Hebrew is cxvi. in the Septuagint, and the number of each 
psalm in the Greek continues to be one less as far as Psalm 
exlvil., which is again divided into two, and in this way the 
numbering is made to coincide again with that of the original. 

7. Classification according to the Contents. 

(a) Songs addressed to God in praise, prayer and thanks- 
giving form the largest class of the psalms. To it belong also 
those that refer to nature, such as Vill., Xvill., cill. 

(0) The historical or national psalms also form a numerous 
class, in which the theme is the glorious past of Israel and its 
distinctive position above all other nations. In others God’s 
help is besought to prevent it from being oppressed by unbe- 
levers, e.g. Psalms Ixxviil., Ixxix. 

(c) Very many of the psalms are didactic, e. g. xxxvi., xlviii., 
Ixxil. give instruction regarding the prosperity of the godless. 

(d) Some are lamentations; the penitential psalms belong to 
this: classi'(-v1),0xx1), °c RVI puree oxo ka cccis)e 

(e) Several psalms are prophetic, and celebrate the sufferings 
of the Messias (xv., xxi., Ixvili.) and His glory (i1., xliv., cix.). 
These are called Messianic psalms. 


The fifteen psalms numbered exix.-exxxili. are called the Gradual 
Psalms. In the Hebrew each is headed nidoyon tty = song of the ascent, 
canticum graduum. This name is variously interpreted. It may refer 
to the return to Palestine from the low-lying lands near the Euphrates, 
or to the pilgrimages of the Jews to Jerusalem, or to the fifteen steps 
leading from the Court of the Women to that of the Men, which were 
ascended by people singing, at the ceremony of drawing water, which 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 289 


concluded the feast of Tabernacles. At the present time they are said 
before Matins on the Wednesdays in Lent, on which no feast of nine 
lessons occurs. There is, however, no special rule enjoining this practice. 


More Detailed Statement of Contents 


First Book. 1. Theme of the whole Psalter; happiness to those true 
to God, destruction to the godless. 2. God and Christ triumph over the 
powers of this world. 3. Morning hymn. 4. Evening hymn. 5. Morn- 
ing prayer. 6. Cry for help. 7. Help, Lord, for the persecuted! 8. The 
firmament of heaven. 9. Song of victory — request for further help. 
10. Confidence in God. 11. Help, O Lord, for the righteous! 12. Delay 
not to save us. 13. Alas! godlessness prevails everywhere! 14. Whom 
will God suffer to approach Him? 15. The suffering Messias cries out 
for help. 16. Save me from oppression! 17. Hymn of thanksgiving for 
safety. 18. Glory of God in nature and in the law. 19. Prayer before 
battle. 20. Thanksgiving for victory. 21. The crucified Messias im- 
plores God to save him. 22. God is my shepherd. 23. Hymn to celebrate 
the bringing of the Ark to Sion. 24. O God, help and pardon me! 25. 
Chastise me not with the wicked! 26. Courage based on confidence in 
God. 27. Chastisement only for sinners! 28. God is glorified in the 
tempest. 29. Thanksgiving for delivery from danger. 30. Save me! 31. 
Repentance and confession of guilt bring forgiveness. 32. Praise God, 
the Mighty and Merciful. 33. Fear of God has good results. 34. Pun- 
ishment be upon our enemies! 35. Wickedness is on all sides, our help 
is in God. 36. Apparent happiness of the wicked. 37. I am weighed 
down by sin, Lord have mercy upon me! 38. I suffer, yet I trust in 
God. 39. I thank thee, O God; help me still further! 40. The merci- 
ful shall find mercy. 

Second Book. 41. Longing for the sanctuary. 42. Courage and con- 
fidence in God. 48. Glorious past and gloomy present, may God help us! 
44. Marriage hymn of the Messianic king. 45. God hath delivered Jeru- 
salem from danger of enemies. 46. God hath granted victory to Israel. 
47. What God hath accomplished in Sion, shall never be forgotten. 48. 
The happiness of sinners is fleeting. 49. Not outward sacrifice, but the 
service of the heart is pleasing to God. 50. David’s confession of guilt. 
51. God’s chastisement falls on the sinner. 52. Like Psalm 13. 53. Save 
me! 54. Lamentation over the deceits of enemies. 55. Like Psalm 33. 
56, 57, 58. Destroy us not, but help us to resist the enemy. 59. After 
hard fighting came victory; give further aid! 60. Under God’s protection 
will I stand firm. 61. God alone is faithful. 62. Trusting in God, I wait 
for His help. 63. Evil designs fall back on those who invent them. 64. 
Thanksgiving for harvest. 65. Thanksgiving for help in time of oppres- 
sion. 66. Another thanksgiving for harvest. 67. Song of triumph; hope 
of subjugating all nations. 68. Being oppressed, I ery to God and hope 
to be heard; the poet speaks thus as a type of the Messias. 69. Like 
Psalm 39, 14-18. 70. God hath helped us hitherto, may He further assist 
us. 71. May God abide with Solomon, who is a type of the Messias. 

Third Book. 72. The prosperity of the wicked soon passes away. I 
will not suffer myself to be misled. 73. Lament over the devestation of 


290 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the sanctuary. 74. Assyria threatens, but our God is stronger. 75. 
Hymn of thanksgiving after the destruction of the Assyrian army. 7 
Is there no escape from the power of the enemies? Remember God’s 
wonderful deeds at the time of Moses and Aaron. 77. The history of 
Israel from Moses to David teaches us that to fall away from God in- 
volves destruction. Remain loyal to the king anointed by God! 78. The 
heathen have entered, ery to God for help (cf. Psalm 73). 79. Israel, 
God’s vine, is hard pressed. 80. Paschal hymn. 81. Unjust judges are 
judged by God. 82. Many foes are in league against Israel, O God, drive 
them back! 83. Joy at belonging to the sanctuary (cf. Psalm 41). 84. 
Prayer of the returning exiles for new mercies. 85. O Lord, strengthen 
thy servant! 86. God’s city of Jerusalem is the home of all nations. 
87. Prayer for delivery in time of great distress, that has already lasted 
long. 88. Great promises were made to David, but his race has sunk 
from its high position. O Lord, be merciful once more! 

Fourth Book. 89. Moses considers human misery, the consequence of 
sin, and implores God’s mercy. 90. Trust in God. 91. Much in the life 
of man is incomprehensible, but God makes all good (cf. Ps. 36, 48, 72). 
92. God’s power over the world. 93. God is our support against unbe- 
lievers. 94. Praise and obedience be to the Lord! Otherwise evil will 
come. 95. Sing praises to the Lord, the most exalted King and Judge! 
96. Let us be glad that the glorious King of all the world is our God! 
97. Israel and all other nations are to praise God, the judge of the world. 
98. All nations must reverence the God of Israel. 99. Praise the Lord, 
our God, to whom we owe existence and all else. 100. I will lead a 
blameless life and keep sinners aloof from me. 101. 1 am wretched and 
deserted, in deep distress I implore God’s merey. 102. Praise God, who 
forgiveth all thy sins! 103. God’s greatness and providence in the uni- 
verse. 104. Song of praise prompted by the history of Israel. 105. Israel 
had made a bad return for God’s benefits, and so was punished with 
exile. 

Fifth Book. 106. Thanksgiving for recovery of the Holy Land. 107. 
Reminiscences of Psalm 56 and 59. God is with us, we fear no foe. 108. 
Appeal for help against false accusations and persecution. 109. The 
Messias is king and priest; he conquers all his enemies. 110. Great is 
God’s goodness to Israel. 111. Happiness will follow those loyal to God, 
the schemes of sinners will be frustrated. 112. God in his greatness wel- 
comes the downeast. (This psalm and the following, as far as 117, were 
recited when the Paschal lamb was eaten.) 113. God’s benefits at the 
time of the departure from Egypt. 114. God hath helped in time of deep 
misery. 115. Thanksgiving for the help. 116. Heathen nations also 
must praise the true God. 117. God heard my prayer, I will trust and 
thank Him for ever. 118. Utterances of a believer, who proclaims his 
loyalty to God and the law against all opposition. The sayings are ar- 
ranged alphabetically, eight times over, and the psalm consists of eight 
times twenty-two verses; one hundred and seventy-six in all. 119. For- 
mer prayers have been granted, therefore I now have confidence. 120. 
May God protect me. 121. Joy over Jerusalem. 122. Lord, take away our 
reproach. 123. Had God not been with us, we should have perished. 
124. Have trust in God, who will not abandon Jerusalem. 125. Joy at 


or) 


“ 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 291 


delivery from imprisonment. 126. God’s blessing gives prosperity. 127. 
He who strives in the fear of the Lord, obtains God’s blessing. 128. I 
was often in danger, but God always protected me. 129. The greater the 
need, the more ready is God’s assistance. 130. Humility and confidence 
cause God to hear our prayers. 131. David had zeal for God’s house, 
therefore David’s house shall last forever. 132. Praise of harmony. 
133. The priests’ evening blessing. 134. Song of praise to God, who has 
shown His power both in nature and in the history of Israel. 135. God’s 
mercy is over all His works. 136. Israel mourns in exile. Woe to those 
who destroyed Jerusalem! 137. Thanksgiving for God’s benefits, request 
for further help. 138. God, being present everywhere, knoweth that I 
have no part with sinners. 139. Keep me safe from the hand of the 
wicked. 140. Guard me from the snares of the wrong-doer. 141. I can- 
not help myself, help Thou me, O God! 142. Leave me not, or I shall 
perish. 143. Song of triumph after a successful contest. 144. Glorious 
are God’s greatness and mercy. 145. Happy is Israel in its trust in God, 
who ruleth the world. 146, 147. Praise the Lord for all His benefits. 
148. All created things in heaven and earth are to announce God’s praises. 
149. Israel has peculiar reason to praise God. 150. Praise be to God 
everywhere, in every way and from all living beings! 


10. PROVERBS 
(31 chapters) 


1. Name. If we had to deal here only with proverbs in the 
ordinary sense of the word, the collection would not be included 
in the canon of Holy Scripture. But the proverbs of Solomon 
(proverbia Salomonis, mapotmiat Ladwpovtos, mishle Shelomo) * 
differ altogether from our proverbs. They are reflections on the 
truths of divine revelation, composed in poetical form, and ap- 
phed to the circumstances of human life. The book also con- 
tains maxims of life derived from the author’s own experience. 

2. Contents and Divisions. The book is divided into several 
parts distinguished by their titles. 


It begins with a detailed introduction applying not only to the first 
part, but to the whole work (i. 1-7). The general meaning of it is: the 
fear of God is the foundation of all wisdom. ‘‘ Without it there is in 
the world nothing but folly, i.e. immorality. Morality is inconceivable 
without fear of God.” 

(a) The first part consists of chapters iix. It contains not so 


1 Mashal means primarily comparison, then parable, memento, and 
also probably song, poem, because of the regular arrangement of the 
parts. 


292 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


much a collection of maxims as several continuous instructions and 
admonitions, intended to inspire love of wisdom." 

(6) The second part, chapters x.-xxiv. (or, according to another 
view, x.-xxii. 16),? forms the chief part of the book and contains most 
of the collection of maxims. ‘There are about 400 of them, expressing 
very various ideas, but clear and easily understood; e.g. “A wise 
son maketh the father glad, but a foolish son is the sorrow of his 
mother,” x. 1. ‘“‘He that loveth correction, loveth knowledge; but 
he that hateth reproof is foolish,” xii, 1. “It is the part of man to pre- 
pare the soul, and of the Lord to govern the tongue,” xvi. 1. “ Pride 
goeth before destruction, and the spirit is lifted up before a fall,” 
xvi. 18. “A foolish man will clap hands, when he is surety for his 
friend,” xvii. 18. 

(ec) In chapter xxv. a new collection begins, headed: ‘‘ These are also 
parables of Solomon, which the men of Ezechias king of Juda copied 
out.” These proverbs display, on the whole, the same characteristics as 
the others, so that they afford confirmation of the statement that they 
aisO were composed by Solomon.* It is quite possible that of the 3000 
maxuns of this king (III Kings iv. 32) many besides the 400 already 
collected were commonly on the lips of the people, and the wise and 
pious counselors of King Ezechias selected a number of these, and 
added them to the previous collection. They are contained in the next 
five chapters of the book, xxv.—xxx. 

As specimens we may quote: “As clouds and wind when no rain 
followeth, so is the man that boasteth, and doth not fulfill his promises.” 
xxv. 14. “As a moth doth by a garment, and a worm by the wood. 
so the sadness of a man consumeth the heart,” xxv. 20. 

(d) The last two chapters contain additional maxims, — xxx. con- 
sists of the sayings of a certain Agur; xxxi. 1-9, advice given to a 
king named Lemuel by his mother; 10-31, praise of a good housewife in 
alphabetical form. The names Agur and Lemuel are probably fictitious.* 


1 The book is often mentioned as ‘‘ Wisdom,” as are also Ecclesiastes, 
Canticles, the Book of Wisdom, and Sirach or Eeclesiasticus. The “ Wis- 
dom” of the Bible is quite unlike the cogia of Greek philosophy. The 
latter aims at discovering the ultimate causes of all things by means of 
human intellect, and knows nothing of revelation; but wisdom in the 
Hebrew sense proceeds from revelation, and seeks to explain everything in 
the world by its aid. To the Hebrew sage wisdom is theoretically the 
knowledge, derived from revelation, of how to live aright, and practi- 
cally it is living in accordance with this knowledge. In the Hebrew 
sense wisdom, as it proceeds from revelation, is itself revealed and 
divine. Even in this book, and especially in chapter viii., wisdom is 
represented as a person; but in the New Testament it appears fully 
revealed as Logos, as a divine Person. 

* A fresh invitation to accept the teaching of wisdom begins in ii. 17. 

5 Cf. however, Kirchenlexikon, 2d ed., article “ Agur’’; according to 
this article Agur, son of Jake, was really a Hebrew sage. Kaulen, 
Finleitung, I1, 142, is less sure of it, and says also that we can neither 
deny nor prove that Lemuel meant Solomon. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 293 


3. Date of Composition. It is obvious, after a consideration 
of the contents, that all the parts of the book cannot have been 
compiled at the same time. The heading of the third part shows 
that a collection of proverbs existed at the time of Ezechias, and 
that, at this king’s instigation, a further collection was made 
and appended to the earlier one. The last two chapters also 
appear to belong to the time of Ezechias. We have, therefore, 
to distinguish two chief periods in the compilation of this book. 

I. Chapters i—xxiv. date from the time of Solomon, and are 
to a great extent his composition. (Only the sayings in xxiv. 
23-34, are ascribed in xxiv. 23 to other wise men.) 

If. Chapters xxv.-xxxl. are in the main of Solomon’s com- 
position, especially xxv.—xxix., but the sayings were not collected 
until the time of Ezechias, when they, with the three additions 
of unknown authorship, were appended to the book. 

4. Purpose of the Book. Whoever knows of God’s revelation 
and feels bound to live in accordance with it, but is still weak 
and wavering in the service of God, may be instructed by this 
collection of rules of life. 

5. Author. That Solomon composed most of the sayings is 
cxpressly stated in 1. 1 and xxv. 1, and has always been 
acknowledged by Christian and Jewish tradition. The pure and 
dignified language bears witness to the composition of this book 
as belonging to the golden age of Hebrew poetry, i.e. to the 
reign of Solomon. 


The Septuagint arrangement of the Book of Proverbs differs in some 
respects from the Hebrew and the Vulgate, which have been followed in 
this chapter. It contains a few sayings that are not in the Hebrew, and 
omits some that are to be found there. — Against admitting the book 
to the canon of Holy Scripture it is sometimes urged that there are 
many sayings in it which any uninspired person might have uttered. 
But the divine revelation contains not only supernatural things but also 
natural truths, which gain additional weight through this revelation. 
Cf. Vatican Council, III. 2, De Revel. The fact that the book is quoted 
as scriptural in the New Testament justifies its canonical acceptation; 
e.g. Hebrews xii. 5, “Whom the Lord loveth, He chastiseth” (Prov. 
iii. 12), and James iv. 6, “ God resisteth the proud” (Prov. ili. 34). 


294 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THR BIBLE 


11. CANTICLE OF CANTICLES 
(8 chapters) 


1. Name. The names shir hashshirim, dopa dopatwv, can- 
ticum canticorum, all express the idea that this song stands as 
much above all others as a poem above ordinary speech. 

2. Contents. According to its literal meaning, the song is 
simply an account of sexual love. 


A shepherd in or near Jerusalem loves a maiden who returns his 
affection with similar feelings. They vie with one another in extolling 
each other’s perfections and in expressions of longing for their union 
in marriage. The hindrances that they encounter only intensify their 
love. King Solomon is mentioned by name, but it is more than doubtful 
whether he is to be identified with the bridegroom, as many assert. 
It seems better to assume that the bride refuses to accept hospitality in 
the palace, and rejects the king’s overtures, because she wishes to re- 
main faithful to her beloved shepherd. It is left uncertain whether the 
lovers ever attain to a permanent union, as no further reference is 
made to it.’ 


3. Interpretation. The rationalistic view is that the book is 
to be interpreted literally, and that the beautiful poem is merely 
an account of human love.? In reply we may say: 

(a) A mere love-song would never have been admitted to the 
collection of the sacred books, especially not as the Song of 
Songs; 1.e. as the most exalted and stately canticle. 

(b) An erotic poem would certainly conclude with a marriage, 
otherwise the account would be incomplete and unsatisfactory. 

(c) Tradition not only of the Church, but also among the 
Jews, is absolutely opposed to the literal interpretation.® 

(d) At the Second General Council of Constantinople (553) 


* Ewald gives a similar account of the contents. 

* Theodore of Mopsuestia and the more modern rationalists such as 
Hitzig and Cornill, take this view. The latter remarks that no un- 
prejudiced reader could for a moment doubt “that the theme is the 
love of man for woman and of woman for man. ... That it was 
admitted to the canon was owing to the mistake of interpreting its con- 
tents allegorically (as was the case with Ps. xlv. (xliv.).” 

> That even the Abyssinian Church has always maintained the alle- 
gorical interpretation of the Canticle of Canticles has been thoroughly 
proved in a monograph by Seb. Euringer, Lpz., 1900. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 295 


the Church expressly condemned 'Theodore of Mopsuestia’s theory 
of literal interpretation. 

We are not even allowed to suppose that originally a real, 
human love prompted the composition of the poem, and that later 
the account of it was taken to symbolize a higher love, so that 
for this reason the book was included in the Canon. Such a 
theory would not harmonize with what the Church teaches re- 
garding inspiration, namely that the sacred writers were influ- 
enced and guided throughout by God, in fact that God is really 
the author of the sacred books. They cannot be at first human 
productions, and then rendered sacred and divine by subsequent 
inclusion in the Canon. The Council of 553 decided that such 
an opinion was erroneous. 

The correct interpretation is the allegorical; i.e. we must 
assume that under the cloak and appearance of human love is 
represented a far higher union, rising above all that is earthly 
and sensual. There is no reality in this human love, it is only 
the garment in which a lofty mystery is clothed, to render it 
intelligible to mankind.* 

4. The Mystery extolled in the Canticle of Canticles is, ac- 
cording to the traditional explanation, the union between God 
and faithful mankind. This union under the Old Covenant was 
the bond between God and the people of Israel,? under the New 
Covenant it is the bond between Christ —the Good Shepherd 
—and the Church. Revelation often represents this union as 
a marriage; our Saviour speaks of Himself as the Bridegroom 


1 We can nevertheless comply with the instructions requiring us to 
interpret Holy Scripture first literally and then mystically. We must 
imagine that the divinely inspired poet described an ideal human love, 
but in doing so had all along a sacred mystery in his mind. We may 
fix our eyes primarily on the garment or type, but we must consider 
the higher mystical meaning. 

2 Of. the canticle in Isaias v. 1, 2, that is sung to the ™“‘ beloved ” 
(313). Language very similar to that of Isaias is used by the 
composer of the Canticle of Canticles, e. g. in ii. 8, 10, 16; v. 1.5 vi. 1. 
Although the bodily perfection and whole form of the bride are extolled, 
there is nothing sensual in this, for it signifies that by surrender to 
God, the whole human nature, including the body, is ennobled and 
spiritualized, filled with supernatural beauty and rendered well pleasing 
to God. For this reason the body, too, can become worthy to last for- 
ever, as the bridegroom is everlasting. 


296 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


(Matt. ix. 15), and Saint Paul states (Eph. v. 21-33) that 
human marriage is particularly sacred for the reason that it is 
a type of that mysterious spiritual union. A relation, re- 
sembling that which exists between God and the human beings 
loyal to Him taken collectively, exists also between God and 
every soul filled with love and gratitude towards Him, and in 
a special way between God and every soul which, for love of 
God, keeps itself in perfect purity and renounces ordinary 
marriage. For this reason many passages of the Canticle of 
Canticles are apphed by the Church particularly to Mary.* 

5. Author. ‘Tradition ascribes the poem to Solomon. In 
style and language it belongs to the fairest and happiest period 
of the national life. It used to be universally believed, by 
Catholics and non-Catholics alike, that Solomon composed the 
poem, or that at least it dated from his reign. The most recent 
criticism, however, on the ground of a few apparently not 
Semitic expressions, assigns it to a very late period, although 
in ILI) Kings iy. 32, 33, Solomon is celebrated as a poet of nature, 
and therefore seems to be referred to distinctly as the author 
of this, the most beautiful of all Hebrew songs.” 


* In a monograph L. Hug puts forward a remarkable interpretation, 
suggesting that the poem expressed the longing on the part of the 
kingdom of Samaria for union with that of Juda. In as far as this 
is to be understood the noble longing felt by God’s faithful people in the 
northern kingdom for the Lord of Israel, dwelling in the Temple at 
Jerusalem, this interpretation may be accepted. But we must not limit 
the poem to this one idea. 

* Reuss thinks that the book was written in the Northern Kingdom, 
soon after its separation from the Southern, and whilst Thirza was 
still the capital. But would Solomon have been honored there? Cornill 
remarks that if it can be said of any book “ Thy speech betrayeth thee,” 
this is true of the Canticle of Canticles. He refers particularly to the 
words appirjon, litter, in iii. 9, declaring that it is the Greek gopetor, 
and pardes, garden, in iv. 13, which he assumes to be Persian. But 
Maurer, certainly a Hebrew scholar, derives pardes from padas, to 
spread out, and appirjon from para, to carry. Cornely rightly points 
out that even in Debora’s song (Judges v.) some expressions of the 
same kind occur, and yet no one questions its antiquity. —A. von 
Scholz upholds the allegorical interpretation, but thinks the book was 
composed in the ‘school at Jerusalem. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 297 


12. HECCLESIASTES 
(12 chapters) 


1. Name. This book is called in Hebrew Qohéleth, which the 
Seventy translated by Hcclesiastes = preacher. 


Qohéleth (from qahal = to call an assembly, to speak in an assembly) 
is a feminine form, but probably gohel = public speaker. Possibly chokma 
might be supplied, and the name would mean “ Speaking Wisdom.” 


2. Contents. The book contains a decidedly melancholy view 
and description of human life, written in poetical form. 


The author surveys all the various ways and pleasures of life, and 
finds nowhere anything that satisfies the heart; all is vanity, because 
all is fleeting. Neither life itself, that passes so quickly, nor the so- 
called good things of life, such as high rank, power, wisdom and knowl. 
edge, wealth and pleasure, can bestow happiness, which every man de- 
sires. Js man therefore to abandon himself to despair as a pessimist? 
Or is he, as a materialist, to adopt the principle: Enjoy life whilst 
it lasts, for all will soon be at an end? No; the author, at the close 
of the discussion, comes to this decision: he bids man “ Fear God and 
keep His commandments, for this is all man” (i.e. the whole duty of 
man), and all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for 
every error, whether it be good or evil (for reward or punishment). 


3. Form. The writer stands as a spectator amidst the fleeting 
phenomena of life, and expresses his thoughts as a speaker before 
an imaginary audience. The style is therefore rhetorical rather 
than poetical, and yet there is a rhythm throughout that dis- 
tinguishes the book from the prose writings. Zapletal says 
(supra, 325): “The book is written in a regular meter.” 

4. Author. Solomon is generally believed to have composed 
the book, towards the end of his reign, after he had gone astray 
but had repented. We meet with him here as a penitent. 


Reasons for regarding Solomon as the author: 


(1) He is mentioned in the heading: “‘ Words of the Qohéleth, son of 
David, king of Jerusalem.” 

(2) The author speaks of himself several times in terms applicable 
only to Solomon. He describes the splendor of his court, the abundance 
of his riches and his wisdom. 

(3) On the ground of Jewish tradition, the Rabbis regard Solomon 
as the author. 


298 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


(4) The Fathers of the Church speak of the three books of Solomon, 
so they ascribed to him Ecclesiastes as well as the Canticle of Canticles 
and Proverbs. Arguments against his authorship are derived from the 
language of the book, which not only differs very much from that of 
the Canticle of Canticles and Proverbs, but contains many Aramaic 
expressions, that suggest its belonging to the period after the Captivity. 

We must, however, remember: (1) that a man full of youthful vigor 
naturally uses vivid language, and in his old age he speaks more calmly 
and sadly; (2) that the ‘‘ Preacher” is addressing the people, and so 
must adopt the popular dialect, which in Solomon’s time had absorbed 
many foreign expressions and forms, in consequence of the constant inter- 
course with foreign countries. 

Ecclesiastical decisions regarding the canon declare the book to be 
Solomon’s, but this may be understood to mean that Solomon’s wisdom 
may be learnt from it, as from Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus. In the 
decree of Innocent I, v. 405, mention is made of ‘‘Salomonis libri V,”’ 
but the canon of the Council of ~Trent contains no allusion to its 
author. On the ground of the language, Kaulen doubts whether Solomon 
can have been the author. Cornely, like most of the Catholic writers 
(B. Schiifer, Schenz, Gietmann), follows tradition, and believes that he 
was. Scholz thinks that it was the work of a number of Chakamim 
(wise men), and that it consists of an original portion with later addi- 
tions. MecNeile (Cambridge, 1904) believes that it was composed about 
300 B.c. Peters (Bibl. Ztschr., 1903), after careful comparison with 
Eeclesiasticus, considers that Ecclesiastes is based upon it, and assigns 
Ecclesiasticus to a date between 190-180 B.c. and Ecclesiastes to one 
between 145-130 B.c. Zapletal (Bibl. Ztschr., 1905) lays stress on the 
fact that it is not possible to trace any influence of Greek philosophy in 
this book. 


13. Tur Book or Jos? 
(42 chapters) 


1. Contents. Examination into the cause of human suffering, 
and especially the sufferings of those faithful to God. 


Job, a wealthy, respected and pious man, living in the land of Hus 
(Uz) to the east of Palestine, suddenly becomes very unhappy through 
the tricks of Satan. He loses his goods and his children, and is at- 
tacked by the horrible disease of leprosy. Nevertheless, he long remains 
submissive to God and patient in his misery. Three friends, Eliphas, 
Baldad and Sophar, come to comfort him, but they are so much horrified 
at his state that they for a long time are unable to speak. Job’s patience 
now gives way, and he breaks out into bitter complaints at his lot, that 
he has not deserved, and he longs for death. His friends rebuke him 


1 The Hebrew 38 ought not to be written Hiob (Luther), but Jjob or 
Job (Sept., Vulg.). & is not =h, but is a spiritus lenis, an inaudible 
breathing. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 299 


for these lamentations, and say he must have drawn down this punish- 
ment upon himself by his sins, and so they urge him to do penance, 
which perhaps may change his fortune. Job persists in asserting his 
innocence, and all attempts of his friends to convince him of his guilt are 
fruitless; they finally keep silence and Job remains the victor in this 
war of words. Eliphas speaks three times and so does Baldad, but Sophar 
only twice. Job answers each of these speeches, and utters both the 
introductory and the closing words. There are therefore in all eighteen 
speeches, or if Job’s last utterance which is once interrupted be reckoned 
as two, there are nineteen. — Now another speaker enters, a young man, 
named Eliu. He wishes to settle the dispute by explaining that neither 
Job nor his friends are altogether in the right. To Job he says: ‘No 
man is just, but God alone.” Job’s assertion of his innocence could 
not be accepted, because it made piety appear useless. To the friends 
he says it is a mistake to suppose suffering is always the result of sins 
committed; God often desires by means of suffering to protect man 
from pride and from the sins proceeding therefrom.— This decision, 
though given with great assurance, satisfies no one completely because 
it involves a contradiction; yet there is much truth in it. 

It is plain from the speeches made by Job, his three friends and 
Eliu, that man of himself is incapable of understanding the causes of 
suffering. Therefore God Himself appears and ends the strife. His 
judgment is twofold; it is partly against Job, who has grumbled at 
Him, whilst appreciating far too little the power and wisdom with 
which God guides the destinies of men; and it is partly for Job and 
against his friends, whose harshness is rebuked. After Job has asked 
forgiveness of God for his complaints, he recovers his prosperity in 
greater measure than before. 


2. Divisions. (1) Chapters 1.-111., Job’s happiness and his 
misfortunes. (2) iii.-xxxl., conversation between Job and his 
friends regarding the causes of his affliction. (3) XXxl1.—xxxvil., 
Eliu’s speeches. (4) xxxviii.—xli., appearance of God and His 
decision. (5) Job’s restoration to happiness. 

3. Purpose of the Book. The Book of Job must not be re- 
garded as an account of the suffering of a single individual, 
but as giving touching expression to the sorrows of all in afflic- 
tion. It may be called the lamentation of all suffering humanity 
and especially of such as are not redeemed. 

As long as the believer in God under the Old Dispensation 
uttered these complaints and cherished at the same time the wish, 
so often repeated by Job, that God Himself might appear and 
exert His power, he must have been penetrated with a longing 
for redemption. 

Two causes of suffering are mentioned in the book: (1) At the 


300 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


beginning, and still more clearly at the end, it shows how God’s 
power and wisdom are supreme over mankind and govern their 
destinies. God allows suffering that He may test men, purify 
them, and finally reward them generously. We learn from Job’s 
example that every sufferer, though he complain, should still trust 
calmly to God’s providence, for God always turns sorrow to our 
advantage. It is a law of Divine Providence that joy shall fol- 
low sorrow. (2) The more direct cause of suffering is that 
Satan (chap. u.) through sin has won a hold upon mankind, 
and uses his power to drag men with him into misery, as far 
as he can. When sin is removed by redemption, the power of 
hell, and with it suffering, will vanish more and more. 

This examination has not exhausted all the purpose of the 
book, for Job has also a typical character. The suffering of 
the innocent is incomprehensible to man, and yet in the suffer- 
ing of the most guiltless hes the deepest wisdom. ‘There is 
namely such a thing as vicarious suffering, and Job is a type 
of our Redeemer, and a dim foreshadowing of Him who was 
to endure terrible agony on behalf of others, in order to wipe 
away sin and conquer the powers of hell (chap. xl., xli.). The 
patristic explanation has always insisted upon this point. 

4. Historical Foundation. That the story has an historical 
foundation and is not merely a work of the imagination seems 
no less certain than that the details are fictitious. The art- 
fully composed speeches are all fiction. 


Reasons for believing the groundwork to be historical are the fol- 
lowing: (a) In both the Old and New Testament (Ezech. xiv. 14; Tob. 
li. 11, ete.; James v. 11) reference is made to Job as to an historical 
person who was a model of piety and patience. The Talmud, too, 
assumes that he was a real man, a contemporary of Moses. (b) The 
indications of place in the book point to his being historical, and so 
does the statement that he was an Arab, and therefore a foreigner. If the 
author had aimed at describing a fictitious character, he would certainly 
have made his hero a Hebrew. (c) Mere romances seem to have been 
unknown in the ancient world. Every great poem that has come down 
from antiquity (such as the Iliad, Odyssey and Atneid) has an his- 
torical foundation. 


5. Date and Authorship. Some critics believe the Book of 
Job to be as old or older than the Pentateuch; others assign it 
to the period of the Captivity or even later. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 301 


In favor of the first theory is the fact that it contains no 
allusion to the law of Moses. But the law could not have been 
mentioned, as the hero is not an Israelite. The description of 
the perfection of the Creator and Preserver of the world, as 
given in the book, suggests that the author must have known the 
Pentateuch, and especially the story of Creation contained in the 
Book of Genesis. In the same way the enumeration of the sins 
(xxiv. 2-11) that Job knows he has not committed, seems to 
allude to parts of the Pentateuch (Ex. xxii. 25; Lev. xix. 9, and 
xxv. 2; Deut. xxiv. 10). The advanced age to which Job 
lived — he is said to have lived 140 years after his misfortunes 
— the mention of star worship (xxxi. 26), from which he held 
himself aloof, and his position as prince and priest, are all indi- 
cations of his having belonged to the time of the patriarchs. 
But though Job himself may have lived at this early period, 
the book may have been written later. 

The date of its composition cannot however have been so late 
as the Captivity. This is plain from Tobias 11. 15, and Ezechiel 
xiv. 4, where Job is praised for his virtues; and there are sey- 
eral passages In Amos and Jeremias that are borrowed from the 
Book of Job.t. The Aramaic expressions in the book are not 
numerous, and are quite natural in a work containing the record 
of events in the east of Palestine, where Aramaic was spoken. 
No one can prove with certainty that an Aramaic element did 
not find its way into Hebrew before the Captivity. Political 
connections and frequent intercourse always have some influ- 
ence on the speech of a country. 

Intercourse with foreign countries was especially frequent in 
the time of Solomon, whose dominions extended far to the north 
and south. This period coincides with the golden age of Hebrew 
poetry, and the Book of Job is perhaps its greatest production. 
It is therefore probable that the book was written during 
Solomon’s reign, and most of the modern critics are of this 
opinion.? 

1 Amos v. 8 suggest Job ix. 9; Jer. xvii. 1 suggests Job xix. 24; 
Jer. xx. 14, ete., suggests Job iil. 3, ete., and Jer. xx. 17 suggests 
Job iii. 11, ete. 


* Herbst, Welte, Kaulen, Cornely, Danko, Zschokke, Schenz, Kna- 
benbauer, also the Protestant writers Keil, Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, 


302 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The resemblance between Job and Proverbs leads us to think 
that they belong to the same period. — The author is utterly un- 
known. He may possibly have been Asaph, who composed some 
psalms containing opinions and subjects not unlike those to 
be found in Job (Ps. Ixxu., Ixxxi.). J. Royer tries to show 
that the prophet Jeremias was the author. 


For the meter of the book see page 283. Friedrich Delitzsch, an 
authority on Assyrian monuments, thinks that the text of Job has 
been very accurately preserved. 


THIRD SECTION 


THE PERIOD FROM THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOMS 
UNTIL THE END OF THE CAPTIVITY 


14. HIsToRICAL SURVEY 


_ The following historical events are connected with the com- 
position of the sacred books belonging to the third period of the 
history of Israel. 

1. The separation of the kingdom into two parts: the Kingdom 
of Juda in the south, where the dynasty of David continued to 
rule with Jerusalem as the capital of a State consisting of the 
tribes of Juda and Benjamin; and the Kingdom of Samaria 
(Israel, Ephraim) in the north, consisting of the remaining ten 
tribes, having kings of its own and Samaria (Heb., Schomron 
== hill of the watch) as its capital. 

2. The overthrow of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians, 
and the carrying off of the inhabitants to Assyria (722). 

3. The overthrow of the southern kingdom, the destruction 


etc. It has been assigned to the time of Moses, or earlier, by Goldhagen, 
Jahn, Ackermann and others. Some ascribe it to Moses; several of 
the Fathers do this, as well as Saint Jerome, und some more recent 
commentators, such as Tostatus and Bellarmine. Saint sregory of 
Nazianzen, Saint John Chrysostom and Calmet believe Colom: to have 
been the author. Cornill and Kautzsch, however, thin’ th is of 
much later origin, belonging to the Greek period (between 330 and 200), 
their chief reason being that it is not mentioned in the earlier literature; 
but cf. page 301. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 303 


of the Temple, the plundering and burning of the Temple, and 
the carrying off of the Jews to Babylon (588). 
4, The return from the Babylonian Captivity (536). 


The chronology in the Books of Kings is not perfectly trustworthy, 
as data have been stated carelessly and uncritically, but the se- 
quence of the Kings is certain. It is also certain that the year 722 
witnessed the overthrow of the northern kingdom, 588 the first destrue- 
tion of Jerusalem, and 536 the return from Captivity. The duration 
of the kings’ reigns in the two kingdoms cannot be determined until the 
cuneiform inscriptions in Assyria and Babylonia have been more fully 
examined. The following dates of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings 
have been verified from cuneiform inscriptions: Tiglath Pilesar = Phul, 
745-727, king of Assyria; Salmanassar IV, his successor, 727-722; 
Sargon, 722-705 (after 709 king of Babylon also); Sennacherib, 705- 
682; Assarhaddon, 681-668; Assurbanipal, 668-626; Nabuchodonosor, 
605-562. 


LIST OF THE KINGS 
(a) Of the Northern Kingdom 


1. Jeroboam I. 2. Nadab. 3. Baasa. 4. Ela, 5. Zambri. 6. 
Omri. 7. Achab. 8. Ochozias. 9. Joram. 10. Jehu. 11. Joachaz. 
12. Joas. 13. Jeroboam II. Interregnum. 14. Zacharias. 15. Sellum. 
16. Manahem. 17. Phaceia. 18. Phacee. Interregnum. 19. Osee, 722. 


(b) Of the Southern Kingdom 


1. Roboam. 2. Abias. 3. Asa. 4. Josaphat. 5. Joram. 6. Ocho- 


zias. 7. Athalia (queen). 8. Joas 9. Amasias. 10. Ozias (= 
Azarias). 11. Joatham. 12. Achaz. 13. Ezechias. 14. Manasses. 
15. Amon. 16. Josias. 17. Joachaz. 18. Joakim. 19. Jechonias. 
20. Sedecias, 588. 


The Israelites of the northern kingdom who were carried 
away to Assyria never returned home,*but were lost among the 
Gentiles. Colonists from the east settled in their land of 
Samaria, intermarrying with the Israelites that still remained 
there; but the heathen element was by far the stronger, so that 
the Samaritans were of mixed race. The Jews who had been 
taken to Babylon were allowed to go back to their own country 
by Cyrus, after his conquest of Babylon. Not by any means 
did all the Jews return to the Holy Land; those who did so were 
only a small proportion of the people, a “ remnant,” as the 
prophets had foretold. Subsequently other companies of Jews 


304 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


came back, chiefly as a result of the exertions of Esdras and 
Nehervias. 

The seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity, foretold by 
Jeremias (xxv. and xxix.) are not always assignod to the same 
dates. It seems best to take 606, rather than ither 588 or 
599, as the first of the seventy years, for it was in .at year ~hat 
Nabuchodonosor first conveyed a great number Jews, mostly 
young men of good birth, to Babylon. In this ‘vay *he seventy 
years end in 536, which was the date of the Return. Within 
this period many of the books of the Bible were written; namcly, 
all the prophetic books with the exception of three that belong 
to the fourth period. 

We generally reckon that there were sixteen prophets, four 
major and twelve minor,’ or, if Baruch 'e regarded . + as an 
appendix to Jeremias, but as an independent work, there were 
seventeen. 

To the period before the Captivity belong Isaias and Jeremias, 
Jonas, Amos, Joel, Abdias, Osee, Micheas, Nahum, “ophonias, 
Habakuk. To the Captivity itself, Baruch, Ezechiel and “Daniel. 
(Prophets who lived after the Captivity: Aggeus, Zacharias, 
Malachias. ) 


The above is the historical order, but that of the Septuagint is: 
Oseas, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habakuk, Sophonias, 
Aggeus, Zacharias, Malachias, Isaias, Jerv. ias, Baruch, Threni, Letter 
of Jeremi: :, Ezechiel, Daniel. The Vulgate has the same arrangement, 
except that the four major prophets, Lamentations and Baruch are 
placed before Cseas. In the Hebrew Bible Isaias, Jeremias and Ezechiel 
stand before the minor prophets, whilst Daniel is placed after Esther 
among the Ketubim. 4 


15. PrOpHnCY IN GENERAL 


1. Those persons under the Old Covenant, who were called 
directly by God to proclaim His will, and who received super- 
natural powers for the purpose, are known as prophets.? They 


1The twelve minor prophets collectively form one book.  Sirach, 
writing as early as 200 B.c., if not sooner, speaks of the ‘‘twelve 
prophets’’ as belonging together (Eeclus. xlix. 12). 

2The Hebrew name is nabi, plural nebiim (from naba, to gush 
forth, to speak in a lively and inspired manner) = inspiratus, inspired 
speaker, They are often called also seers, watchmen, shepherds, or men 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 305 


did not form a class enjoying inherited privileges, as did the 
priests and kings, but they were chosen and commissioned by 
God for a time to carry certain messages. 

Such were Moses, Josue and Samuel in the earliest period of 
Jewish national life, and later Nathan, Elias, Eliseus and others. 
The earlier prophets were conspicuous chiefly for their deeds, 
the later for their words, many of which were recorded by them- 
selves or by others. The activity of the later prophets lasted 
‘from about 800 to 400 B. ¢. 

2. Functions of the Prophets. The primary duty of each 
prophet was to benefit his own generation, to maintain the 
fidelity of the people towards God, and to threaten sinners with 
God’s chastisement. They were a kind of conscience to the 
nation. Incidentally, a glance into the future of Israel was 
often vouchsafed to them, and this they described sometimes in 
threatening, sometimes in encouraging language. They also took 
into account the destinies of foreign nations, as far as they came 
into contact with God’s people. ‘To foretell the future was 
therefore not the only duty assigned to the prophets, although 
it formed an essential part of their functions. The true prophets 

were distinguished from the false especially by the fulfillment 
of their prophecies, although this often took place after their 
death (Deut. xvii. 21, 22). The most important of their 
prophetic utterances are the Messianic prophecies, by means of 
which the people of God were prepared for the coming of the 
Redeemer, and their longing for Him was awakened, maintained 
and intensified. 


The false prophets, who are so often mentioned, were generally opti- 
mists or flatterers, announcing, ostensibly at God’s bidding, nothing 
but what was pleasant, thus encouraging the people in their wickedness, 
for they relied upon the exalted destiny of Israel as if it made any 
chatisement on God’s part inconceivable (cf. e.g. Jer. xxiii, and 
xxvi.). Our Saviour has warned us that there would be false prophets 
also under the New Covenant, and said that they might be recognized 
by their fruits, for suffering and misery were involved in following 
their doctrines (Matt. vii. 15). 


of God. The Greek name signifying ‘‘ one who foretells ”’ does not convey 
an idea of their whole duty. The root of nabi occurs in the form naba’a, 
also in Assyrian and Arabic; in Assyrian it means “to speak, an- 
nounce ”; in Arabic, “to report, make known.” 


306 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


rs) 


3. Personality. The prophets were as a rule holy persons, 
but sanctity was not a necessary condition of a prophetic voca- 
tion. Hence we find among the prophets not only Jonas, who 
in his disobedience wished to escape from God, but also the 
Gentile Balaam. Natural qualifications were not absolutely 
requisite, and therefore people of very different positions in 
life were intrusted with the work of a prophet. We find in 
the company of aristocrats, such as David and Daniel, the prophet 
Amos who was a simple countryman. 


We hear of schools of the prophets, but we must not imagine them 
to have been schools in our sense of the word, places where prophets 
were trained, as we have schools for physicians or lawyers. The word 
“school ” denotes only a connection such as existed between Christ and 
His Apostles, though it is possible that in these schools a prophetic 
vocation was often awakened by the singing and the study of the law 
(I Sam. (Kings) x. 5; xix. 20). Cf. the article Prophetenschulen 
by Welte in the Kirchenlexikon. 


4. The Mode of the Divine Communications varied. As a rule, 
the prophets received only inward illumination; but often they 
had visions, perceived by means of the senses. Sometimes they 
were instructed when in a state of ecstacy, or favored with a 
vision. ‘They generally speak of the future as if it were present, 
for they were seers. The present and the future are often con- 
fused in their utterances. 

5. ‘The spoken word of the prophets was intended for their 
contemporaries, the written for the future, as witness of the 
truth and as a testimony against Israel. 

6. In order to understand the prophetic books we must always 
bear in mind: (a) that Israel is God’s people, and as such exalted 
above other nations; (b) it possesses the kingdom of God on 
_ earth and is the bearer of the hopes of redemption; (c) it is 
false to God, and therefore is punished; (d) God’s kingdom is 
not to perish on that account, but (e) out of Israel shall come 
the Messias.* 


* It is a purely arbitrary assumption on the part of Wellhausen 
and his followers that all predictions of a better future and of re- 
demption were interpolated into the writings of the prophets after the 
Captivity. Such critics say that the small remnant of the Israelite 
nation spent their time in dreaming of a revival of David’s kingdom, 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 307 


PROPHETS PREVIOUS TO THE DOWNFALL OF THE 
NORTHERN KINGDOM 


16. JONAS 
(4 chapters) 


1. Contents. Jonas, son of Amathi, is commissioned by God 
to announce the destruction of the great city of Ninive. The 
people of Ninive do penance, and therefore the town is spared. 


Jonas belonged to the northern kingdom, having been born at Geth- 
Opher, of the tribe of Zabulon (IV Kings xiv. 25). He sought by 
flight to avoid carrying out his task of going to Ninive and of announc- 
ing the coming destruction of the city, and so he set sail on a Pheenician 
ship bound for Tharshish (Tartessus in Spain). A terrible storm arose 
at sea on his account, and the sailors, fearing the deity, threw him into 
the sea. He was swallowed by a great fish, but remained alive, and 
as he repented and prayed to God, he was cast up on the shore still 
living after three days. Now he fulfilled God’s commission, but as 
the Ninivites betook themselves to penance, the sentence was not executed 
at that time. Jonas murmured for this reason against God, who re- 
buked him gently. 


2. Truth or Fiction. This story is to be regarded as perfectly 
true, for our Saviour spoke of Jonas as of an historical person 
(Matt. xii. 40-42; Luke xi. 30, 31), thus testifying to the truth 
of the story.?, The occurrences related in the book are certainly 


and as their hopes were not realized, they sought consolation partly in 
inventing a glorious past, and partly in looking forward to the sub- 
jugation of the Gentiles. All that the prophetical books contain re- 
garding the triumph of the kingdom of God over the Gentile world is, 
according to these critics, really of very late origin, but has been put 
into the mouths of the prophets. Some books, such as Daniel, were 
altogether fictitious; to others large additions were made, e.g. Isaias 
was more than doubled. 

Such theories are inevitable when the supernatural is altogether 
denied. Against them Nahum may be quoted, for his book has always 
been recognized as genuine, and as belonging to the time before the 
Captivity. He speaks in exactly the same way of Assyria as Isaias of 
the Gentiles. In chapter ii. he says that Assyria must be overthrown, 
because the kingdom of God cannot be allowed to perish. Are we to 
suppose that all the Jewish authors after the Captivity were liars and 
deceivers, devoid of all conscience? 

1 7” = dove. 

2 “For as Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three 
nights, so shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth three 


308 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


unparalleled, but not therefore incredible. Who will dare to 
limit the power of the Almighty, and prescribe to Him how far 
He may go without encountering human unbelief? The fish 
mentioned in the story was probably a gigantic dog fish (Canis 
carcharias) ; this species is still found in the Mediterranean, and 
not unfrequently destroys human life. If it be asked why God 
chose to work this miracle, Jesus Christ (loc. cit.) Himself sug- 
gests that it was in order that Jonas should be a type of His own 
death and resurrection. ‘This explains also why this story is 
included among the prophetic books, and is placed at the be- 
ginning of them. The size ascribed to Ninive, “a city of three 
days’ journey,” is borne out by recent discoveries on the Tigris. 
From the beginning of the ruins in the north (Sargon’s Palace) 
to the end of them in the south (mouth of the great Zab) is about 
twenty hours’ walk, and one day’s journey generally meant from 
six to eight hours’ walk. 

3. Author. Probably Jonas himself composed the book, being 
moved to do so by his feelings of contrition for his faults. It 
may, however, be assumed that his reeord was arranged by a 
subsequent writer so as to form the present book. 

4. Date. The prophet must have lived zbout the year 800 B. ¢., 
as, according to IV Kings xiv. 25, he prophesied the successful 
expedition made by Jeroboam ITI against Syria. 


Strack thinks that the Book of Jonas may have been written at 
the end of the sixth or the beginning of the fifth century. Cornill assigns 
it to “the latest period of spoken Hebrew,” and refers it to the fourth 
century. He bases this view chiefly on peculiarities in diction, but the 
nine expressions on which he relies are not so convincizg as to force 
us to admit so late an origin; they are partly northern provincialisms 
and partly technical words. The word iii. 3) hajetha (‘‘ Nivine was 
a great town”) is no-proof of a late origin; it may Lave been inserted 
into a copy of the book by the editor (Usdras?) in whose time Ninive 
no longer existed, 98 his readers could not know the great city. The 


days and three nights. The men o* Ninive shall rise in j1dgment with 
this generation, and shall condemn it, because they did penance at the 
preaching of Jonas; and behold .: greater than Tonss her. The 
queen of the south ‘all rise in judgment with tl’s cencration, and 
shall condemn it, bocause she came from the e ds  f whe ear’h to hear 
the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater ian Solomon here.” If 
Solomon and the Queen of Saba were historical personages, Jonas, who 
preached to Ninive, is so no less. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 309 


prayer in ii. 3-10 bears some resemblance to the psalms, but this is 
no evidence of a very late origin; its contents are quite as well suited 
to an earlier period, and the Temple (verses 5 and 8) need not necessarily 
be the second. 


17. Amos + 
(9 chapters) 


1. Date. Amos probably lived not long after Jonas, for in 
the introduction to his book the Kings Ozias of Juda and 
Jeroboam II of Samaria are mentioned. He is the oldest of 
the prophets whose utterances have been preserved in writing. 

2. Mission. Amos was a shepherd and caretaker of a syca- 
more plantation at Thekne, near Bethlehem. God called him to 
go as a prophet to the northern kingdom, and after fulfilling his 
mission he returned home and resumed his previous occupation. 
He seems himself to have written down the prophecies he had 
uttered as an everlasting testimony against Israel, that had not 
listened to his warnings. 

His time of activity appears not to have been long, as in i. 1 we read 
that he entered on his mission two years before the earthquake. We 
do not know what earthquake this was. He probably spoke most of 


his prophecies at Bethel, the center of the idolatrous worship, for the 
high priest Amasias of Bethel denounced him to the king (vii. 10). 


3. Contents. The prophet inveighs against idolatrous wor- 
ship and the moral corruption connected with it, which showed 
itself in excessive luxury, partiality in the administration of 
justice, and oppression of the poor. The whole kingdom is 
threatened with destruction and the people with exile. Such 
freedom of speech on the part of a man of the lower classes 
was intolerable to king, priests and people alike, and Amos 
was driven out of the country. 

4. Divisions. Chapters i. and i1., God’s chastisement for sin 
is coming upon all the nations of Westeru Asia. i1—vi. It will 
fall most heavily upon Samaria. vu.—ix. Vision of the punish- 
ment to be inflicted upon Samaria. 


Chapter i. The neighboring nations have sinned and are being 
punished by God (through the agency of the advancing Assyrians). 


1 Diy = carrier of burdens. 


310 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


ii. Samaria, although belonging to God’s people, has sinned yet more, 
and can least of all be spared, ili. God causes the prophets to announce 
the punishment before He inflicts it; Samaria will be destroyed like 
a beast torn by a lion, so that nothing remains of it but a few little 
bones. iv. The punishments inflicted hitherto have been fruitless, de- 
struction is now imminent. v. Song of mourning over Samaria; it 
could only be saved by penance. vi. The rich and powerful in Samaria 
as in Juda are chiefly to blame for the decay of morality, therefore the 
heaviest chastisement shall fall upon them. vii. Three visions, (a) 
and (b), show that God has often been induced by prayer to spare His 
people, but now (c) all forbearance is over. The idolatrous priest, 
Amasias, accused Amos before the king, and received a terrible prophecy 
concerning his own family; his wife and children were to perish, his 
property should belong to others, he himself should die in a heathen 
land and the whole nation go into captivity. viii. Vision of the gather- 
ing in of the fruit, meaning that Samaria is ripe for destruction. ix. 
The Samaritans, on account of their idolatry, are no better than the 
heathen, but the kingdom of God will not pass away, and salvation 
wi.l nevertheless come through the Messias. 

Gtravk, Xautzsch and Cornill assign the book to the year 760. The 
genuineness of some of the verses, which are thought to disturb the 
connection of ideas, has been questioned, but without sufficient reason 
(Cornill). 


18. Jor? 
(4 chapters in Septuagint, 3 in Vulgate) 


1. Joel, son of Phatuel, seems to have labored in the southern 
kingdom, for he pays no attention to Samaria, but mentions 
as enemies of Guod’s people the Phcenicians and Philistines (iu. 4) 
and the Egyptians and Edomites (iii. 19). We know (II Chron. 
xxvi. 6-8) that King Ozias of Juda fought successfully against 
such enemies. The time of Jvel’s activity is not stated in his 
book, but it must have been during the reign of Ozias, and even 
at the beginning of it, considerably before 760, for the prophet 
does not allude to the Assyrians who, towards the close of Ozias’ 
reign, penetrated as far as Palestine and made Samaria tributary 
to them (IV Kings xv. 19). 

2. Contents. After a short introduction, the prophet speaks 
of a devastation of the Holy Land by locusts. 


i. Palcstine has suffered terribly again and again from locusts. ii, 
Chis plague is a foreshadowing of heavy chastisement, but if the people 


1 by} =the Lord is God. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 311 


turn to God and do penance, blessings may come instead of curses. iii. 
God’s justice threatens those only who do not believe; redemption shall 
come to the righteous.’ 


3. Interpretation. It is uncertain whether the prophet was 
speaking of a real plague of locusts or whether he spoke of 
locusts only as a type of hostile armies. Most of the later com- 
mentators prefer the literal explanation, but the old Rabbis 
and the Fathers of the Church adopt the figurative interpretation. 
They may very well be united and we may suppose that Joel 
saw how the Holy Land was devastated by invasions of locusts 
in his day, and so he referred to them, when foretelling to the 
people how the land would be laid waste by foreign hosts, unless 
Israel returned to its God. 


Modern critics assign a late date to this book. According to 
Cornill (172), the year 586 (or 588) is the terminus a quo, as it was 
only from this time onward that God had cause to expostulate with 
the enemies of His people. Cornill says: “ We must go far beyond 
the year of the destruction of Jerusalem, for the capital is inhabited, 
the Temple built, and the worship in it organized. This cannot have 
been the case until after the return from Captivity. As the walls of 
Jerusalem (7?) are mentioned in ii. 9, we are brought to the time of 
Nehemias. Moreover, Joel knows nothing of moral decadence, he finds 
fault with nothing [but cf. ii. 12, ete.], to him the Jews are infinitely 
exalted above the heathen. . . . Absolutely convincing is his quotation 
from Malachias iii. 23 [Vulg. iv. 4] regarding the great and terrible 
day of Judgment.” But may not Malachias have borrowed from 
Joel? There is nothing to oblige us to relegate the book to the period 
following the Captivity and thus to adopt a view opposed to that of the 
Canon and to Jewish tradition. The simple sequence of thought, suited 
to every period of Jewish history, is this: The Holy Land will be laid 
waste by the Gentiles (Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, 
Romans, Mahometans) as a district is eaten up by locusts. However 
terrible the visitation may be (though it might be averted if Israel 
did penance), it cannot put an end to the kingdom of God. The 
future belongs to the faithful, whilst unbelievers sooner or later must 
appear before God’s tribunal, especially at the Last Judgment at the 
end of time. 


1 The words in iii. 1, eum convertero captivitatem Juda et Jerusalem, 
which are translated “I shall bring back the captivity of Juda and 
Jerusalem,” contain no reference to the Captivity of the Jews, but mean, 
according to the original, “I shall change the destiny.” So translates 
also Kautzsch. 


312 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


19. Appras? 


(21 verses) 


1. Abdias has left on record a short prophecy uttered against 
Edom or Idumeza, a country near to the Israelites, the inhabi- 
tants of which were akin to them in race. He certainly lived 
in the southern kingdom, as he speaks of Jerusalem and Sion. 

Edom is a small country, and its inhabitants, te descendants of 
Esau, are few in number, but they are proud, and filled with hatred 


of Juda. But Juda, being the kingdom and people of God, will triumph, 
and Edom, like all other enemies, will be brought low. 


2. Date. The contents of the book seem to indicate that at 
the time of the Babylonian invasion the Edomites made common 
cause with the enemies of Israel, and openly showed their joy 
at its misfortunes. This is mentioned as a fact in other places 
(e.g. Ezech. xxv. 12; Ps. exxxvi. 7). If this surmise is correct, 
the prophet must have lived about the year 600, in the time of 
Jeremias. The position of the book in the canon points to an 
earlier date, and in v. 18 there is on allusion to the house of 
Joseph, i.e. to the kingdom of Samaria, that was destroyed in 
722.2 Although Abdias seems (verses 1-9) to have borrowed 
passages from Jeremias xlix. 7, etc., it is more probable that Jere- 
mias had the earlier prophecy in mind when he wrote.? If it be 
urged that before the time of Nabuchodonosor there was never 
a day cf ruin and desolation for Juda, such as . »dias describes 
(v. 13), we may ieply that great distress fell upon Juda in the 
reign ci King Joram (889-884) when the Arcbs ar | Philistines 
invaded the country, took the royal family prisoners, and plun- 
dered the royal treasury (II Chron. xxi, 16, etc.). Abdias is 
referring to this event; and we may conclude that he lived at 
about the same time as Joel (before 760), as the two prophets 


* 7132p = worshiper of Yahweh. 

? This verse alone is enough to prove the antiquity of the book: 
“The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, 
and the house of Esau stubble, and they... shall devour them, and 
there shall 1: no remains cf i.e house of Esau.” 

* T. Abdias the speech is connected, whereas in Jeremias parts of it 


seem to be quoted from memory. 4 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 313 


in some places use almost the same expressions. ‘There is no 
trace in the language of a later origin. 


A. Condamin, S.J., in the Revue biblique (1900, ii. 261) proves from 
the structure of the strophes that the whole of Abdias is older than 
Jeremias. 


20. OSEE? 
(14 chapters) 


1. Osee was the son of Beeri, of whom we know nothing. His 
birthplace is uncertain, and it is impossible to decide positively 
whether he belonged to the northern or the southern kingdom. 
As, however, he speaks of Juda only incidentally, and refers 
constantly to the northern kingdom and its circumstances and 
alludes to its ruler as “our king” (vu. 5), he must have lived 
in the kingdom of Samaria. 

2. Date. According to the heading (1. 1), he was a contem- 
porary cf Isaias, who was active in the southern kingdom. He 
must, however, have been older than Isaias, as he was active dur- 
ing the reign of Ozias, and Isaias did not receive his call until 
the last sear « £ that reig:. We may assume that Osee’s activity 
lasted from about 780 to 720. 

3. Contents. The northern kingdom is going to ruin. Israel 
is like an adulteress who deserves rejection. 


Ch , L-lii. are a narrative. Osee tells of his domestic misery; 


his \vite 1s “ squently false to him. This marriage was a type of God’s 
relation towards His people. iv.—xiv. A collection cf disconnected 
speech: 1, strung together, depict the anarchical condition of the northern 
kingdom. . e Amos, the prophet rebukes the idolatry, immorality 
and ¢~ it prevalent among all classes. These disorders are leading to 
the downfall of the State, upon which God has already determined. Re- 
liance is placed upon Egypt and Assyria (xii. 1), but no one notices 
that the heathen are bringing abont the destruction of Israel,—a just 
punishment for yielding to their vices. By way of consolation a glance 
into the Messianic future is vouchsafed, in order that tluose of the people 
who are pious and willing to do penance may find encouragement. In 
conclusion (xiv. 5, 6, 10), God says: “I \,ill heal their breaches, I will 
love them freely. . . . Israel shall spring up as the lily, and his root shall 
shoot forth. ... Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? 
prudent, and he shall know these things? For the ways of the Lord 


1 pwin, helper. 


314 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall 
fall in them.” 

Wellhausen (Isr. u. jiid. Gesch., 80) declares that the prophet was 
mistaken, and that Israel vanished from the face of the earth. This 
is true of the kingdom of Samaria, but not of the whole nation, and 
the two kingdoms were intimately connected. 


4. Symbolical Marriage. The prophet’s marriage, described 
in the early chapters, is variously explained. The question 
whether he is speaking of real occurrences or relating a parable, 
cannot be decided. Most of the Fathers and older commentators 
take the former alternative. 


21. MrcHEas ? 
(7 chapters) 


1. Micheas, born in Moresheth of the tribe of Juda, prophesied 
under Joatham, Achaz and Ezechias until about the time of the 
destruction of the northern kingdom. He was therefore a con- 
temporary of Isaias. His prophecies were addressed to both 
kingdoms, but especially to the southern. 

2. Contents. ‘The prophecies of Micheas bear much likeness 
to those of Isaias. They can be divided into three sections, each 
ending with a Messianic promise. 


I. (Chapters i. and ii.) God is on the point of punishing His people 
for their disloyalty. The chastisement is to fall first upon the northern 
kingdom, and the southern may take warning from it. 

II. (Chapters iii—v.) The kingdom of Juda will fare no better; 
Sion will be taken and destroyed; but still God’s kingdom will not 
perish; a glorious time will follow a ruler who proceeds from Bethlehem, 
but who has been from eternity. 

III. (Chapters vi. and vii.) Punishment must inevitably fall upon 
Israel because of the wickedness of the people, who cannot fail to 
recognize this fact. But the consequence of the punishment need not 
be the final rejection of Israel; a peaceful future may and must be 
anticipated. The book ends with a touching prayer offered by the 
prophet for his people.? 


* 13) = M5, who is like the Lord. Septuagint, Mcyaias. 

2 “Who is a God like to thee, who takest away iniquity, and passest 
by the sin of the remnant of thy inheritance? he will send his fury in 
no more, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, and have 
mercy on us; he will put away our iniquities; and he will cast all 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 315 


The Book of Micheas is probably a collection of the essential 
portions of the prophecies uttered by him at various times. 


Ewald, Stade and Cornill try to prove that several portions of 
Micheas are not authentic, but a very thorough defense of the genuine- 
ness of the book is contained in a work by V. Ryssel, Untersuchungen 
iiber Text, etc., des Micha, Leipzig, 1887. 


22. Isatas? 
(66 chapters) 


1. Isaias. The prophet who bore this name lived in the 
kingdom of Juda, and prophesied during the reigns of Ozias, 
Joatham, Achaz and Ezechias. His father, Amos, is not to be 
identified with the prophet of that name. Isaias was called by 
God about 757 to undertake his special work, and he probably 
lived until about 680. According to tradition, King Manasses 
had him, sawn asunder (Heb. x1. 37; Justin., Dial. c. Tryph., 120). 

2. Contents. The Book of Isaias consists of two very different 
parts: chapters i—xxxvii. and chapters xxxvili-lxvi. The first 
part deals with the present, the second with the future of Israel. 


First part. Chapter i. Words of rebuke for disloyalty introduce the 
prophetic utterances, —the keynote of the whole book is thus struck. 
ii—iv. The Messianic future is indeed in prospect, but it can be realized 
only after God’s chastisement has been inflicted upon His degenerate 
people. v. Israel is an unfruitful vineyard. vi. The prophet relates 
that, when he received his mission, he learnt from God that only a small 
part of Israel could be saved, the great majority must perish. vli.—xii. 
At the present time the Assyrian power is pressing hard upon Israel, 
being the instrument used by God for its chastisement; but the Messianic 
future will come nevertheless; the Messias will be born of the Virgin 
(blessed by God); He will appear in the north of the country and 
found a new dominion, a remnant of Israel will be saved, but the 
power of the heathen will be overthrown. xiii.—xxiii. All the forces of 
the heathen will be subjugated by the kingdom of God, which alone 
will last forever. Then follow twelve prophecies of punishment to be 
inflicted on the heathen nations (Babylonians, Philistines, Moabites, 
Damascenes, Ethiopians, Egyptians, ete.). Juda, too, as a kingdom 
will suffer chastisement, but will not perish, for being God’s kingdom 
it is everlasting. xxiv.—-xxvil. The world will finally be judged, and 


our sins into the bottom of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to 
Jacob, the mercy to Abraham; which thou hast sworn to our fathers 
from the days of old” (vii. 18-20). 

* yyw (Sept., ‘Hoalas) =the Lord helpeth. 


316 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


a people who truly worship God will come forth. xxviiixxxy. Even 
though in the immediate future the Assyrian yoke may press heavily 
upon Juda, all the enemies of God’s people must eventually succumb, 
and the kingdom of God will prevail. Chapters xxvi. and xxxvii. 
contain an historical account of the invasion of the Assyrians; and 
this concludes the first part. Chapters xxxvili. and xxxix. are in- 
troductory to the second part;* they described the sickness and re- 
covery of King Ezechias, as a type of the exile and return of Israel. 
The second part begins with chapter xl., and forms a closely con- 
nected whole, the purpose of which is to announce the coming redemp- 
tion. This part is divided into three sections, each of nine chapters. 
With indescribable exultation the prophet foretells a threefold salvation 
of Israel, i.e. of God’s faithful followers in general: (1) It shall be 
rescued from Captivity, xl—xlviii.; (2) The Saviour will come, the 
Servant of God, the Messias, xlix.-lvii.; (3) There shall be salvation 
for eternity, lviiilxvi. (The prophet can scarcely find words in which 
to make known with exultant joy the salvation of the faithful, — he is 
truly a nabi = a speaker overpowered by divine inspiration. ) 


3. Unity of the Work. The first part is a collection of various 
utterances of the prophet; the second is, on the contrary, a dis- 
sertation, arranged on a definite plan and incapable of division, 
which we can scarcely imagine was ever proclaimed by mouth. 
The whole book constitutes the consistent work of a man who is 
filled with the spirit of God, and aims first at rousing his people 
for their own good, and then at consoling them. We may follow 
Kaulen and call the first part the Book of Sorrow, and the 
second the Book of Comfort. We must therefore believe that 
not only isolated portions of this book were composed by Isaias, 
but that he compiled the whole. 

4. Authenticity. The Babylonians are several times men- 
tioned in the Book of Isaias as being the enemies of God’s people, 
and even the name of Cyrus? occurs (xliv. 28, xlv. 1), as that 


* Chapters xxxvi.—xxxix. occur also in IV Kings xviii—xx.; in many 
places the two passages are word for word the same. The author of 
Kings seems to have taken these accounts from Isaias (if Isaias was . 
put to death by Manasses, he must have outlived King Sennacherib, 
XXXVll., XXXV1ll., Who was murdered in 682). 

* Heb., w)3, Pers. Kosru, in the cuneiform inscriptions Kurus, born 
598. Even before Cyrus appeared in person, the Israelites seem to 
have attempted to discover an etymology for the name, deriving it 
either from wip, to cut off, or Wir, to cut into; so that Cyrus = 
cutter, a characteristic name for a man who cut his way so remarkably 
into the history of the world. The Seventy gave the name as Kupos. 
As a common noun kvpos means supreme power, authority. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 317 


of the deliverer of the Jews from the Babylonian despotism. 
For these reasons many critics have assumed that the whole of 
the second part was the work, not of Isaias, whose active life 
belongs to about 760 or 780, but of one or more later authors, 
and was added to the real Book of Isaias. They maintain that 
Isaias could not have spoken of the Babylonians as existing 
enemies, because in his lifetime the power of Babylon was still 
insignificant, and it did not come into conflict with Israel for 
another hundred years. In the same way he could not possibly 
have known the name of Cyrus. Probably some Jew about the 
year 538 tried to encourage and console his people, still groaning 
under the Babylonian yoke, by means of prophecies directed 
against Babylon. 


Cornill declares the following passages not to be genuine and to have 
been written by a later hand than Isaias’: ii. 2-4; xi. 10; xii. 6; xiii. 
2—-xiv. 23; xv. l—-xvi. 12; xxi. 1-10 and xxi. 11-17; xxiii.; xxiv.—xxvii.; 
XXXll. and XxXxXlll.; XxXxXiv. and xxxv.; XXxvi._xxxix., with some small 
exceptions, and finally xl.—lxvi., which is generally designated the 
Deutero-Jesaja.1. Those who maintain that the book is not authentic 
base their arguments on internal evidence and on the presumption that 
the future was as obscure to the prophet as it is to us. Marti believes 
the whole book to be a collection of speeches and disserations, some of 
_ which were composed by Isaias. Similar views are expressed in Guthe’s 
Bibellexikon; he speaks of there being several constituent parts of the 
book, varying in age from the eighth to the fourth, or even the third 
century. 


However, for a man who believes in the existence of God and 
the possibility of an enlightenment of the human intellect by 
the spirit of God, there appears to be no reason why the book 
should not really have been composed by Isaias, whose mission 
it was to announce the triumph of the faithful and of God’s 
kingdom over the unbelievers and the powers of this world.. His 
glance penetrated far beyond his immediate surroundings, be- 
yond Juda and Assyria. 


1 By the “servant of God” in chapters xlix.—lvii. E. Sellin formerly 
understood Zorobabel, but afterwards Jojachin (Jechonias); Smend, 
Konig, Giesebrecht, Marti and Budde think it is a collective name, 
denoting the people of Israel. Bertholet and Duhm, on the strength 
of Isaias 1. 4 (“The Lord hath given me a learned tongue”), think 
some teacher of the Thora is meant. Rothstein declares the expression 
not to be collective, and says that it refers to an individual. 


318 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Tradition is in favor of the authenticity of the book, and knows 
nothing of a second Isaias, whilst Holy Scripture itself bears testimony 
to it... Internal evidence, too, points to its having been composed before 
the Captivity. The people are repeatedly warned against idolatry, and 
this is declared to be the reason for God’s chastisement. Such state- 
ments would be unnecessary after the Captivity. In chapters lvi. and 
lvii. the circumstances preceding it are so vividly described that many 
commentators feel constrained to ascribe these passages to a “ Pseudo- 
jesaja,” living at that period. 


PROPHETS LIVING BETWEEN THE DOWNFALL OF THE 
NORTHERN AND THAT OF THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM 


23. NAHUM ? 


(3 chapters) 


1. Nahum’s Personality. This prophet, who, like Jonas, had 
to prophesy the destruction of Ninive and Assyria, was a native 
of Elcush, a village in Galilee (Hieron., Comm. in l. Nahum). 
He probably lived in the Holy Land, although his countrymen 
were in captivity in Assyria, for he mentions places in Palestine, 
especially Basan, Carmel and Lebanon (i. 4). 


In the first part of the third volume of Beitrige zur Assyriologie 
by Delitzsch and Haupt (Leipzig, 1895, pp. 87-188) many reasons are 
brought forward in support of the theory that Nahum was an Israelite 
exile, a native of some other Eleush or Aleush near Ninive. 


2. Subject of the Book. Ninive’s destruction. 


i. God has determined that Ninive and the kingdom of Assyria shall 
perish. ii. This destruction is effected by a hostile army, which over- 
runs the city and the kingdom, and puts an end to the latter. ii. The 
destruction is inevitable, and fully justified. 


3. Date. Nahum knows that the city of No-Ammon,? i.e. 
Thebes in Upper Egypt, has been destroyed, and reproaches the 


* “{God] purified them by the hand of Isaias, the holy prophet... 
with a great spirit he . . . comforted the mourners in Sion. He showed 
what should come to pass forever, and secret things before they came” 
(Eeelus. xlviii. 23-28). 

? 037) = comforter or comfort. The name is very suitable to this 
prophet, who comforted God’s people when they were in fear of the 
cruel Assyrians. 

§ The Latin text reads Alexandria, but there can be no doubt that 
Thebes is meant. Cf. the commentaries. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 319 


Assyrians for having devastated it (ii1. 8). Recent investigations 
in Assyria show that King Assurbanipal, who came to the throne 
in 668, took and plundered this city about 662. The prophet 
refers to this event as something fresh in men’s remembrance, 
and therefore he seems to have been prominent soon after Assur- 
banipal’s campaign, perhaps about 660. His prophetic threats 
were fulfilled in 606.7 


The authenticity of this work, which is full of the loftiest inspira- 
tion, is almost universally acknowledged. The exalted language and the 
heartfelt joy that the people of God will soon have nothing more to fear 
from the cruel Assyrians, are recognized even by rationalists as tokens 
of authenticity. 

Happel, Das Buch d. Proph. Nahum, 1902, thinks that the book 
was not written until after the Captivity, and that Ninive is a fictitious 
name for the Syrian empire under Antiochus IV, Epiphanes. 


24. SOPHONIAS ? 
(3 chapters) 


1. Personality of Sophonias. The genealogy of this prophet 
is given at the beginning of his book, which is not done in the 
case of any other prophet. He seems to have been a descendant 
of Ezechias, and this must have been the well-known king of 
that name, for no other reason can be discovered for tracing his 
genealogy. It is in keeping with his high rank that he ad- 
dresses his prophecy especially to the princes and king’s sons 


(iS) 3 
2. Date. According to the heading of the book, he lived 
under King Josias (639-608). He must have been active in 


The Medes, in alliance with the Scythians, put an end to the king- 
dom of Assyria, according to the ordinary reckoning in 625, but ac- 
cording to more recent historians in 606. Kaulen gives the date as 606, 
so do Sayce (“ Fresh Light from Ancient Monuments,” 132) and H. Winck- 
ler. The latter mentions an inscription discovered in Babylon in 1894, 
which refers to Nabonaid, the last king of Babylon (555-538), and says 
that the king of the Medes and Scythians had conquered Assyria, and 
thus had helped the Babylonian king Nabopolassar (626-606) out of 
his difficulties. We must therefore abandon the theory that the allied 
armies of the Medes and Babylonians put an end to the Assyrian king- 
dom, and believe that the conquest was effected by the Medes and 
Scythians, 

2 VID¥ = the Lord’s protection. 


320 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the early part of the reign, because he complains bitterly of the 
prevalence of idolatry in Juda, and as Josias put it down with 
a strong hand this complaint would have been unnecessary later 
on. ‘The allusion to the Assyrians as still dangerous (11. 13, etc.) 
and the absence of all mention of the Babylonians also are in 
agreement with the beginning of Josias’ reign. 

3. Contents. Announcement of God’s just vengeance being 
about to fall on Jews and Gentiles. 


i. God is ruler and judge of all mankind. Now, in our day, He is 
judging Juda (the prophet is undoubtedly referring to the invasion of 
the Babylonians, though he does not speak of these enemies by name). 
ii. The Gentiles are subject to the same God as the Israelites and will 
be punished for their cruelty to them. All the empires of the heathen 
will perish, and mighty Assyria in particular will soon be cast down. 
il. Jerusalem should learn from this, and submit loyally to God. But 
every warning is in vain; and so God’s vengeance will light upon it, 
whilst the heathen nations will turn to the true God. There is, how- 
ever, still a prospect of mercy for Jerusalem, if Israel will be converted. 

According to Cornill, chapter ii. shows a few traces of a later hand, 
and iil. a great many, and the concluding portion (verses 14-20), in 
which Israel is called upon to rejoice, is particularly suspicious. This 
appeal is, however, quite in harmony with the preceding promise that a 
remnant of Israel shall be saved (verses 10-13). 


25. HaBakuk, oR Hapacuc? 
(3 chapters) 


1. Contents. God sends grievous punishments upon Juda 
through the Babylonians, who will one day in their turn be 
exterminated by Him because of their rapacity. 


The book begins (chapter i.) with laments over the wickedness pre- 
vailing in Juda, and the long delay in God’s interference. God declares 
that chastisement will shortly be inflicted through the Chaldeans (Baby- 
lonians), who will cause terrible suffering, acting as His instruments. 
The prophet is filled with horror, and fears the worst for God’s people 
and kingdom, which is not to be subjugated by the godless heathen. He 
is ordered (chapter ii.) to write down a prophecy, the fulfillment of 
which is still far in the future, so that the faithful may read it and be © 
comforted. It states that the idolatrous Chaldeans will in their turn 
fall a prey to others, and the faithful shall be saved. All merely 
earthly greatness is to vanish from the kingdom of God. The prophet 


* pipait, from p2s}, to grasp, fold = he that foldeth the hands. Sep- 
tuagint, “AuBakovu. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 321 


is (chapter iii.) astonished and alarmed at these communications, but 
then he extols God in a magnificent song of praise, as being the almighty 
Judge who guides the course of events for men, destroys the godless, in 
spite of their apparent prosperity, and saves His own people. Cornill 
and others deny the authenticity of chapter ii. 9-20 and of the whole of 
chapter ili., but they are indispensable to a comprehension of the whole! 
Happel thinks the book is an apocalypse belonging to the period after 
the Captivity. (Of. Nahum, p. 318.) 


2. Date. No definite statement occurs in the book as to the 
time of this prophet’s activity; we must therefore have recourse 
to its contents and try to obtain some chronological inferences 
from them. We find: (a) that Juda was in a state of disloyalty 
to God; (0) that the Chaldean power already existed, but (c) 
Juda had no fear regarding it. These indications point to the 
rise of the Babylonian Empire, 625; and Habakuk may have 
been a contemporary of Jeremias, and have labored in the early 
years of King Joakim’s reign.* 


It is possible that he was active before Sophonias and Jeremias, for 
he speaks of the Chaldeans as still an almost unknown nation; we should 
then have to believe that he thought of them still as the race mentioned 
in Job. i. 17, of no great political importance. The place of the book in 
the canon suggests, however, that it is of later origin. 


3. Personality of Habakuk. The history of his hfe is un- 
known, nor is it certain whether this prophet is identical with 
the Habakuk who, according to Daniel xiv., was so miraculously 
carried from Palestine to Babylon. Several of the Fathers 
identify them, but in this case Habakuk must have appeared only 
a short time before the Captivity and have lived throughout its 
duration, thus reaching a very great age. 


1 Kaulen and Cornely assign the beginning of his activity to the 
reign of King Manasses, because the news of the Chaldean power still 
seemed wonderful (i. 5). According to Caspari the book was written be- 
tween 626 and 605. Cornill dates it after 605. 

? Kaulen thinks they were different persons, and that some confusion 
was made by the Seventy, who call both Ambakum. Cornely takes the 
same view. 


322 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


26. JEREMIAS ! 


(52 chapters) 


1. Personality. We can derive a fairly full account of this 
prophet from his book, which, in addition to his prophecies, 
contains many details as to his life. 


Jeremias was born at Anathoth, one of the priests’ cities, north of 
Jerusalem. His father was a priest named Helcias. In the thirteenth 
year of King Josias (about 626) the first divine communication was 
made to the young man in the words: ‘ Before thou camest forth out 
of the womb, I sanctified thee and made thee a prophet unto the nations,” 
i.e. against the heathen who were attacking the kingdom of Juda, and 
still more against the heathenish minded Jews themselves. Jeremias was 
afraid on receiving this communitation, and pleaded that he was too 
young for the task, but in vain. For a generation and a half he had to 
reproach the Jews, mostly to no purpose, for their sinful folly, announce 
the destruction of the holy city and the Temple, and with his own eyes 
behold it, and then proclaim that the only means left to the nation of 
recovering God’s favor was to submit humbly to the heathen, who were 
commissioned by God to chastise them. 

Although Jeremias undertook his difficult task with reluctance, he 
performed it most faithfully in spite of all obstacles. His chief oppo- 
nents were the false prophets who, in answer to his threats of punishi- 
ment, reminded the people of God’s mighty protection in the past, of 
Israel’s high destiny and of the impossibility of God’s abandoning His 
people. Jeremias had to undergo much suffering and persecution. 

Under the pious king Josias his lot was endurable, but after Josias 
fell in battle in 608, the hated preacher of truth had to encounter open 
hostility. Joakim disliked him, and when the Babylonians first invaded 
the country in 605, and Jeremias wrote down the prophecies of the past 
twenty years and caused his disciple Baruch to read them in the Temple 
to convince men of their truth, the king gave orders that Jeremias should 
be imprisoned and his writings burnt. The prophet escaped, and wrote 
out his prophecies again, adding to them a denunciation of Joakim. 
Soon after the king rebelled against the Babylonians, and fresh misfor- 
tunes fell upon Juda. Joakim died, and so he did not suffer in his own 
person the vengeance of the Babylonians, but the new king Jechonias, who 
with part of the people was carried off into exile at Babylon, and Nabu- 
chodonosor made the weak and incapable Sedecias king. During his reign 
Jeremias wrote to those already in exile, comforting them and exhort- 
ing them for the present to submit to the Babylonian bondage, which 
would end in seventy years (chapter xxix.). He warned King Sedecias 
not to rebel against Babylon, as he would only bring down greater misery 
upon the country. Sedecias did not heed the warning, but was induced 
to revolt, and Nabuchodonosor hurried to Jerusalem, besieged and de- 


Meee ae a 


+ 43, = appointed by God. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 323 


stroyed it. The king was blinded and dragged into captivity with the 
rest of his people. During these events, Jeremias suffered much at the 
hands of Jewish fanatics, and was finally imprisoned in the royal palace, 
being released only after the Babylonians had entered the city. They 
treated him with respect, and at his own request left him in the country 
where he could still be of service to the few remaining Jews. 

The Babylonians had appointed Godolias (Gedalja), a Jew by birth, 
to be governor, but he was murdered by an ambitious man who was in 
league with others, and in their fear the Jews now fled to Egypt, forcing 
the prophet to accompany them. On the way he uttered his last proph- 
ecies. Acording to tradition he was stoned to death in Egypt by his own 
countrymen, 


2. The Book of Jeremias, as we have it, was plainly composed 
not by Jeremias himself, but by some one else, probably by his 
disciple Baruch. It bears traces of the period when it was com- 
piled, — an age of disorder and confusion. We cannot find in 
it any exact chronological arrangement, but the utterances are 
so confused that it is difficult, if not impossible, to state with 
regard to each chapter the date to which it belongs. There 
is, however, a method in the arrangement, for the various parts 
are ordered so as to bring out more and more clearly the justice 
in God’s dealings with His faithless people. According to the 
Hebrew and the Latin texts, the book falls into two chief parts. 
The first contains addresses to the Jews, interspersed with his 
torical information (i—xlv.) ; the second consists of prophecies 
concerning heathen nations, Egyptians, Philistines, Phcenicians, 
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Damascenes, Elamites and 
finally also Babylon (xlvi-li.). Chapter lii. is an historical 
addition dealing with the fulfillment of the prophet’s words. 


Introduction: chapter i., God’s commission to the prophet. Part J, 
(a) chapter ii.-xx., six admonitions regarding the approaching destruc- 
tion of Juda, on account of its obstinate persistence in wrongdoing. (b) 
XX1.-xxiv., prophecies regarding the faithless leaders of the people. (c) 
XXv.-xxix., Juda, like other nations, will fall a prey to the Babylonians. 
(d) xxx.-xxxili., nevertheless the people of God shall come back from 
slavery. (e€) xxxiv.—xlv., work and sufferings of the prophet at the time 
of the siege and capture of Jerusalem. Part JJ, xlvi—li., prophecies re- 
garding the heathen. lii., appendix, history of the fate of Sedecias, who 
died as a prisoner in Babylon, and of that of his predecessor Jechonias, 
who was pardoned. This appendix agrees almost word for word with the 
conclusion of the Fourth Book of Kings. 

Saint Jerome arranged the Vulgate text in accordance with the He- 
brew, but from chapter xxv. onward the Septuagint order is different, as 


824 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the prophecies regarding foreign nations are interpolated (xxvi.—xxxii.). 
The Septuagint text is also about an eighth shorter than the Hebrew and 
the Latin. Both the Hebrew and the Greek texts are to be regarded as 
authentic; the passages omitted by the Septuagint should be retained in 
accordance with the Masorete version, and the Greek arrangement of the 
text is preferable to the Hebrew.* 

Streane, “ The Double Text of Jeremiah,” Cambridge, 1896, considers 
the text used by the Seventy to have been the original, and prefers the 
Greek text to the Masoretic, which he believes to be a later expansion of 
it. A. Scholz, like Workman and Streane, prefers the Septuagint text, 
but Schneedorfer, Kaulen and Strack think the Masoretice text better. 
That both are considered authentic may be inferred from the practice of 
the Eastern and the Western Church. In the East the Septuagint, and in 
the West the Masoretic text (Vulgate) is in use, just as in Matt. 11. 18 
the Masoretic text is followed, and in Heb. viii. 9 the Alexandrian 
Septuagint. 

Rationalistic criticism accepts the prophecies of Jeremias as being on 
the whole genuine, but it professes to detect several later interpolations 
on the strength of internal evidence; e.g. xvii. 19, ete., where stress is 
laid on the observance of the Sabbath, appears to the critics to belong to 
the time of Nehemias, and 1. 51, the prophecy against Babylon, that re 
sembles the “ Deuterojesaja” and earlier passages in Jeremias, but is 
out of place where it stands, seems to be the work of a later hand. But 
if the commandment about the Sabbath is older than Jeremias (Ezech. 
xx. 12, etc.), if there is no “‘ Deuterojesaja,” and if every writer is prone 
now and then to repeat himself, we have here no reason at all for deny- 
ing such passages to be the work of Jeremias. 


* Arrangements according to the Septuagint. Chapters i—xxy., as in 
the Hebrew and the Latin texts. xxvi. (xlvi. Heb.), prophecy against 
Egypt; xxvii. (1.), against Babylon; xxviii. (li.), ditto; xxix. (xlvii. l- 
7 and xlix. 7-22), against the Philistines, Phcenicians and Edomites; xxx. 
(xlix. 1-5; 23-27; 28-33), against the Ammonites, Damascenes and 
Arabs; [the prophecy against Elam, xlix. 34-39, is missing] xxxi. (xlviii.), 
against Moab; xxxii. (xxv. 15-38), God’s indignation against the wicked; 
XXxiii,- (xxvi.)s XXkIV.) (ZXVli2) 5. XXxXV. {[XXVill>), > 0G, 45 1a eee 
which corresponds to xliv. and xlv. of the Hebrew. lii. is the same in 
both the Greek and the Hebrew. That the Greek order is preferable ap- 
pears from xxv. 14, where, after the punishment coming upon Juda has 
been announced, it is stated that God will chastise also the heathen. 

The origin of this different arrangement of the text is obscure. 
Kaulen thinks that a short copy of the book was made hastily in Egypt 
at the time when Jeremias was carried thither, or when he died. Cor- 
nely, on the contrary, thinks that the book existed from the beginning 
in two different forms, one of which gave rise to the Masoretie text, 
and the other, which was shorter, was used by the Greek translators. 
The latter view is taken also by Workman, “The Text of Jeremiah,” 
Edinburgh, 1889. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 325 


27. Tuer Book or LAMENTATIONS 


1. Name and Position. These songs, five in number, are calied 
in the Hebrew Qinoth = lamentations,’ in Greek @pHvot, in the 
Vulgate lamentationes. In the Hebrew Bible they are classed 
with the Ketubim, but in the Septuagint and the Vulgate they 
follow the Book of Jeremias, as tradition names him as their 
composer. 


Against the tradition that Jeremias was the author of the Lamenta- 
tions, it is urged that their position among the Ketubim in the Hebrew 
canon makes it plain that they were not in ancient times ascribed to 
him, as otherwise they would have been put with his other book. Their 
position in the Septuagint cannot, it is said, have been the original one, 
as the language shows that they were not translated by the same per- 
son as the Book of Jeremias. These considerations, however, cannot 
stand against an unbroken tradition and the fact that the contents. of 
Lamentations savor greatly of Jeremias. The Septuagint and the Vul- 
gate express the traditional view at the beginning of the book, with the 
words: “ And it came to pass, after Israel was carried into captivity, 
and Jerusalem was desolate, that Jeremias the prophet sat weeping, and 
mourned with this lamentation.” 

Its poetical character probably caused the book to be classed with 
Psalms and Proverbs among the Ketubimn. 


2. Subject. The singer complains that Jerusalem has fallen 
into the hands of cruel enemies, who have plundered and de- 
stroyed the Holy City. Many of its inhabitants have been slain, 
others ill treated and carried away into captivity. Misery and 
famine prevail in the country. These descriptions suit the 
period of the first destruction of Jerusalem in 588. The songs 
express the sorrow felt at this event. 

3. Form. The first, second, fourth and fifth songs each con- 
tain twenty-two verses, corresponding to the number of the 
letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The third song has 3 X 22 = 66 
verses. With the exception of the fifth, they are alphabetical, 
i.e. in the Hebrew text the first verse begins with Aleph, the 
second with Beth, the third with Gimel, ete. In the third 
song, verses 1-3 each begins with Aleph, 4-6 each with Beth, 


* Mp, from pp or #7), to strike, to sound the strings, to sing, espe- 
cially to sing something sad. The book is also often called NDS, from 
the first word in it. 


3826 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


ete. This system occurs also in other poems in the Old Tes- 
tament (e.g. Ps. exviu. and Prov. xxxi. 10-31); it probably 
served as an aid to the memory, for the songs were intended to 
be sung." 

4. Inturgical Significance. The Church has adopted Lamenta- 
tions for use in the Divine Office, and orders some portions to be 
sung publicly in Holy Week. In doing so, she is not intending to 
mourn over the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the Holy 
City, but rather to remind the faithful of the punishments in- 
flicted upon disloyalty, and that our Saviour’s sufferings on be- 
half of mankind were even greater than those of Jerusalem. The 
Lamentations in Holy Week, therefore, are the voice of our 
Mother, the Church, calling upon us to do penance and to be 
faithful to God. 


PROPHETS WHO LIVED DURING THE CAPTIVITY 


28. BARUCH ? 


(Deuterocanonical; 6 chapters) 


1. Personality. In both the Vulgate and the Septuagint the 
little Book of Baruch is appended to the prophecies and lamen- 
tations of Jeremias, and the Fathers occasionally refer to it by 
the name of Jeremias. Baruch was his disciple and faithful 
companion ; he followed his master to Egypt (Jer. xl. 3, 6) and 
after his death he went to join the exiles in Babylon. Whilst 
there he used his prophetic gifts and met with more success than 
Jeremias had had in Palestine. The Israelites, being now made 
submissive by their misfortunes, gladly listened to the words of 
the disciple, although they had persecuted the master. In fact, 
Baruch’s admonitions seemed to them so important that they 
sent the record of them, written by the prophet in the fifth 
year after the destruction of Jerusalem, together with a letter of 


1 J. K. Zenner, S.J., comes to the conclusion that the Lamentations 
are made up of monologues and dialogues, and form a dramatic dirge 
over the fall of. Jerusalem. Strack says that a long section of a verse 
is always followed by a shorter one, and this indicates that they were 
to be sung. 

7 3393 = blessed, benedictus. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 327 


introduction to the Jews left behind in the Holy Land. The 
prophet himself conveyed the book as well as some vessels taken 
from the Temple. 

2. Contents and Dwisions. Chapter 1. contains the above- 
mentioned letter of introduction, with an historical preface. 
Then follow Baruch’s prophetic utterances in chapters i—v. 
Chapter vi. is an appendix, containing a letter addressed by 
Jeremias to the unfortunate Jews. 


i. 1-14, King Jechonias and other exiles are moved by hearing Ba- 
ruch’s book read aloud to send it and certain gifts to Jerusalem, with 
a letter asking that sacrifices might be offered for them on the poorly 
restored altar of holocausts. i. 15—iii. 8, prayer acknowledging guilt, com- 
posed by the prophet in the name of the penitent nation. “ We have 
deserved the punishment which even Moses foretold; may God now 
fulfill also His comforting promises.” iii. 9-v. 9, the prophet’s admoni- 
tion: “The people have fallen into misery because they despised God’s 
commandments. May they henceforth be faithful to God. Our troubles 
are not to cause our destruction, but God will send us help.” vi. 1-7, 
Jeremias warns those who are going into captivity against the Baby- 
lonian idolatry, the errors and folly of which he describes. 


3. Position in the Canon. The Book of Baruch is deutero- 
canonical, it is not in the Hebrew Bible. Saint Jerome took the 
Latin text from the Itala, because he found no Hebrew version 
of the book, but Origen was acquainted with one, as in his 
Hexapla he marked the Greek text with obels and asterisks in 
the same way as the protocanonical books. That the original was 
in Hebrew is proved (a) by the unmistakably Hebrew diction, 
(b) the admission of the book into Theodotion’s translation, (c) 
the repetition of the fourth and fifth chapters in the eleventh of 
Solomon’s Psalms, which, although now extant only in Greek, 
were composed in Hebrew (supra, p. 209). 


Jeremias’ letter could not be added to the Book of Jeremias, because 
it was no longer extant in Hebrew, and so it was joined to the work of 
Baruch, his disciple. Against its authenticity it is urged that it had 
a Greek tone and is in contrast with the general style of Jeremias. But 
it contains some unmistakable Hebraisms, e. g. vi. 1, duaptias tuaprijKare ; 
vi. 2, é&dgw wtuas per elphyns; vi. 6, éxfnTav ras Wuyds tua, ete. The 
contrast with Jeremias seems to be in vi. 3, where the captivity is said 
to be destined to last seven generations, whereas Jeremias speaks of 
seventy years. But the Hebrew word 11% does not only mean a genera- 
tion, but also a period. That Jeremias had reason enough for giving such 


328 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


a warning appears, e.g., from Jer. xliv. 17. The Israelites said to the 
prophet that as long as they, like their fathers, served other gods, they 
had bread enough and were prosperous, but since they ceased to do so, 
they lacked everything and suffered from the sword and from famine. 
Another evidence of authenticity is the knowledge shown of the state 
and especially of the cultus of the country near the Euphrates, as Kaulen 
has shown (Assyrien und Babylonien), e.g. an idol is mentioned with 
sword and battle axe; Layard found a representation of such a deity. 


29. EZECHIEL * 
(48 chapters) 


1. Personality. Ezechiel belonged to an honorable priestly 
family; his father’s name was Busi. In 597 he was carried 
away to Babylon into captivity, with King Jechonias, and spent 
the rest of his life there. In the fourth year of his residence 
in Babylon, 593, he received his vocation as prophet, and for 
twenty or thirty years he was actively at work. His usual resi- 
dence was Tel-Abib, a little town on the river Chabor, a channel 
of the Euphrates. His grave is still shown in the neighborhood 
of ancient Babylon. According to tradition, he was killed by 
an idolatrous Jew, whom he had rebuked for his wickedness. 

2. The Book of Ezechiel proclaims (a) that God is about to 
inflict a fearful punishment upon His faithless people by means 
of the Babylonians, but (b) He will then restore the Covenant 
with them. 


Four parts may be distinguished in the book. 

(1) Chapters i-iii. Call of the prophet.?’ (2) Chapters iv.—xxiv. 
Ezechiel, being a captive in Babylon, sees how Jerusalem is besieged 
and captured, and then destroyed, with the Temple which is abandoned 
by God. The Holy Land is a wilderness, the false prophets are exter- 
minated, and intercession is vain, for Israel is like a withered vine. In 
past ages Israel was espoused to God, but fell into adultery through 
following after the heathen and their idols, wherefore it is now punished 
by means of the heathen. (3) Chapters xxv.—-xxxil. The neighboring 
nations, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Phoenicians and 
Egyptians, on which Israel relied, are likewise to be plundered by the 


: NPI = mighty is God, or ONpIm, God strengthens. Septuagint, 
Tevexipr\. 

* In ii. 3 the word D2 has probably been interpolated by later Jews, 
who would not acknowledge the apostasy of Israel. It is not in the 
Septuagint version. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 329 


Babylonians, for such is God’s will. (4) Chapters xxxiii—xlviii. After 
the chastisement God Himself will replace the wicked shepherds, and 
watch over His flock, arousing His people from death and showing 
mercy towards them. The prophet beholds and describes a complete 
change of circumstances, a new Temple, a new form of worship, a new 
and far more numerous nation having God dwelling in their midst. This 
description is not to be taken as referring only to the period after the 
Captivity, but it embraces the Messianic age, to which the vision in 
chapter i. also seems to point. 


3. Author. The prophet speaks of himself mostly in the first 
person; we may therefore assume that he recorded his prophecies 
himself, and bequeathed them to the Jews at the end of his life. 
The whole work is remarkably uniform from the first word to 
the last, so that criticism has scarcely found any cause to doubt 
or deny anything, and its authenticity has hardly ever been 
questioned. 


Even Cornill acknowledges its authenticity; he says: “If any book 
of the Old Testament bears on its surface the mark of authenticity, and 
exists still in the form in which it passed from the author’s hand, it is 
the book of Ezechiel. No other displays a uniformity so magnificently 
conceived and so clearly executed; no other reveals from the first letter 
to the last the same hand, the same spirit and the same well-marked 
individuality.” Cornill has attempted to correct the Hebrew text of this 
book, using for the purpose the oldest translations: R. Kriitzschmar 
thinks that the work of an editor can be detected in the book as we have 
it. He is supposed to have united two different texts, one longer than 
the other; in the longer version Ezechiel speaks in the first person; in 
the shorter, which seems to be an abridgment of the longer text, he is 
spoken of in the third person. But tradition is opposed to this theory. 


4, Style. The style of this prophet is full of vivid descrip- 
tions and is highly picturesque; the book contains an account 
of several visions, yet is not very difficult to understand. 


The most remarkable vision is that of God’s chariot (chapter i.). 
When the prophet received his commission he saw God Himself in all 
His glory seated on a throne, which did not stand still, but was carried 
like a chariot to the four quarters of the heavens by four creatures of 
wonderful appearance. They resembled respectively a man, a lion, an ox 
and an eagle. On account of this vision (and of Apoc. iv.) these four 
symbols have been assigned to the Evangelists. 


330 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


30. DANIEL? 
(14 chapters) 


1. Personality. Daniel was in Babylon before Ezechiel, hav- 
ing been sent thither as a hostage in 605; he was brought up at 
Nabuchodonosor’s court, and carefully educated, being known by 
the Babylonian name of Baltassar. In consequence of this train- 
ing and of his own extraordinary wisdom, he won great respect 
and influence at the court of the pagan king, and even under 
the Medo-Persian government he constantly held high offices. 
His great authority over both Jews and Gentiles appears not 
only from his own work, but also from passages in Ezechiel 
(xiv. 14; xxvill. 3), and to the present day he is spoken of 
with the greatest respect in Oriental stories. He must have 
lived to a very advanced age, as his last prophecy (x. 1) belongs 
to the third year of Cyrus’ reign. His grave is shown in 
Shuster, formerly Susa, and is held in great honor by the 
Mahometans. 

2. Contents. Daniel was not a prophet exclusively for the 
Jews, but he addressed the Gentiles more especially, as it was 
his task to make known to them the power of the true God and 
the indestructibility of His kingdom. 


Daniel’s prophecies are intimately connected with his own life, and 
from his book we can learn most of his history. 

Chapter i. Daniel comes to Babylon and is educated at the king’s 
court. ii. Nabuchodonosor has a wonderful dream of a great statue, the 
head of which is of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the lower parts 
of the body of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and 
partly of clay. Daniel interprets the dream as referring to the various 
empires, that follow one on the other, but will all finally be made subject 
to God’s dominion.” iil. Erection of a great idol. Three friends of 
Daniel refuse to worship it, and are condemned to death by fire, but are 
miraculously delivered. iv. Nabuchodonosor has another dream in which 
it appeared to him that he was to have the heart of a beast for seven 
years. Daniel interprets this to mean that the king would be mad for a 


: Ow = God is my Judge. 

* According to Diisterwald, the first empire was the Babylonian, the 
second the Medo-Persian, the third the Greco-Macedonian, the fourth 
the Roman, and the fifth the Messianic, that is to outlast all the empires 
of the world. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 331 


long time and behave like a beast. v. Feast of King (i.e. Prince) Baltas- 
sar,’ and the divine sentence, Mene, Thekel, Phares. vi. King Darius, the 
Mede, who is governing Babylon on behalf of Cyrus, is well disposed to 
Daniel, but by his courtiers’ intrigues is induced to cast him into a den of 
lions. Daniel is miraculously preserved. vii. Vision of four beasts of 
prey, representing the four empires, on the ruins of which the rule of the 
Messias is to be established. viii. Vision of a ram and of a he-goat that 
overcomes the ram. The ram represents the Persian, and the goat the 
Greco-Macedonian Empire. ix. Revelation concerning the seventy weeks 
of years, after which redemption is to come.* x.-xii. Visions regarding 
the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great and the wars following his 
death, and also Antiochus Epiphanes, who is a type of Antichrist. xiii. 
Story of Susanna. xiv. Account of the idol Bel, the Babylonian serpent 
worship, and Daniel’s preservation in the den of lions. 

It is remarkable that in the Hebrew Bible the Book of Daniel is not 
placed with the prophetical books, but in the last section, among the 
Ketubim. This arrangement, however, dates only from about 100 B.c., 
when the Jewish canon was finally fixed. According to the earlier ar- 
rangement of the sacred books, Daniel followed Ezechiel, and the Septua- 
gint has preserved this order. 


3. Divisions. The book may be divided into two parts, one 
(chap. 1.—vi. and xiii. and xiv.) historical, and the other (vil.—xu.) 
prophetical. If it is divided according to the language, six chap- 
ters (1. and vill.—xil.) are in Hebrew; six (11.—vil.) in Aramaic; 
two (xill. and xiv.) and part of chapter lil. are preserved only 
in the Greek, and so are reckoned deuterocanonical. 

The Septuagint text of Daniel is acknowledged to be very faulty, and 
for this reason the Church did not use it, but adopted Theodotion’s 


version. The Septuagint text exists in two manuscripts, one Greek and 
one Syriac. Cf. supra, p. 237, note. 


4. Authenticity. Modern Protestant critics deny Daniel’s au- 
thorship, and believe that the book was written long after the 
Captivity. Many go so far as to declare the book an absolute 
forgery, on account of the detailed prophecies that it contains. 
As no one in the sixth century before Christ could know what 
Alexander the Great would do in the fourth century and 
Antiochus Epiphanes in the second, it is maintained that the 
book cannot have been in existence before the time of the Mach- 
abees. It may have been composed during the conflicts of the 

1 King Nabonaid had fled before the approach of Cyrus. 


7 See Fraidl, Die 70 Wochen Daniels, 1883. (The reckoning ought 
tertainly to begin from 458, the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.) 


332 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Jews with the Syrians, with the purpose of encouraging the Jews, 
by showing them, from Daniel’s great example, that no worldly 
power can withstand the dominion of God and His people. 

But in answer we may say: (1) The language indicates that 
the book was written during the Captivity. Being partly in 
Hebrew and partly in Aramaic, it is well suited to a time when 
the older language was gradually falling out of use among 
the Jews, and giving place to Chaldee. These languages were 
equally familiar to Daniel, as a ruler, and so he left his prophecies 
on record in both. (2) The contents, too, show that the book 
belongs to the time of the Captivity. The author was evi- 
dently well acquainted with the events of that period and with 
the customs of the Medo-Persian rulers, in a way that would 
have been impossible for a Jew in the second century before 
Christ.2,_ Mathathias when dying reminded his friends particu- 
larly of things recorded in the Book of Daniel (Matt. 11. 59; 
cf. Dan. ili. and vi.). Our Saviour Himself (Matt. xxiv. 15) 
referred to the “abomination of desolation which was spoken 
of by Daniel the prophet” (Dan. 1x. 27). 

5. The deuterocanonical portions of the book belong to the 
same period as the protocanonical, and in all probability were 
written by Daniel. In style and contents they completely agree 
with the historical passages in the first part. Many critics regard 
them as imitations of the book, because (1) no Hebrew original 


* If stress be laid on the fact that the language of chapters ii—vii. is 
not the Eastern, but the Western Aramaic, that was used in Palestine, 
we may argue that a book intended to be frequently read would have to 
be adapted to the ordinary speech of the people, and that in this way 
the text, as originally written by Daniel, has suffered some modification. 
P. Riessler tries to prove that chapters ii—vii. were also written in He- 
brew in the first instance. In his commentary on Daniel (Vienna, 1902), 
Riessler comes to the conclusion that the book was certainly written 
before the downfall of the Persian Empire, and most of it by Daniel 
himself, although many glosses were added in the time of the Macha- 
bees. The language of the book bears traces of Babylonian influence. 

7 A great many of the statements in this book have been confirmed 
by recent discoveries in Babylon, e.g. the name of the plain Dura 
(iii. 1), and the name Baltassar (Belshazzar, v. 1). The description of 
Nabuchodonosor’s palace is accurate, and so is the remark that Cyrus 
did not assume the government of Babylon in person immediately after 
his conquest. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 333 


of them is extant, and (2) in the Greek Bible they are not 
connected with the protocanonical Book of Daniel, i.e. they are 
not inserted after chapter i. and chapter vi. respectively, where, 
according to their contents, they ought to stand. 

That a Hebrew text originally existed seems probable from the 
fact that not only the Seventy, but also Theodotion and Sym- 
machus admitted these portions to their translations, and a study 
of the Greek text enables us easily to recognize that it is a 
translation. The Book of Daniel, lke that of Jeremias, cer- 
tainly existed in two forms among the Jews; the Greek trans- 
lators made use of the longer version, while the Jews in our 
era recognized only the shorter, probably through dislike of the 
Christians who had accepted the longer Greek text. 


FOURTH SECTION 


THE PERIOD FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO THE CLOSE 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT REVELATION 


31. HISTORICAL SURVEY 


The following events belong to this period: 

1. In 536, after Cyrus had conquered Babylon, the Jews 
returned from the Captivity and rebuilt the Temple and city 
of Jerusalem. | 

2. An orderly government and mode of life were restored 
in the Holy Land, in consequence of the exertions of the 
prophets Aggeus, Zacharias and Malachias, the priest Esdras and 
the Persian official Nehemias. The claims made upon the Jews 
by the Persians were trifling and not oppressive. 

3. The rise of western influence, first from Greece (Alexander 
the Great), and then from Egypt and Syria (settlement of many 
Jews in Egypt); the Septuagint, Antiochus Epiphanes. 

4, The struggle of the Machabees to maintain the Jewish 
religion and independence, and to secure the appointment of 
native rulers (175-140). 


* C. Julius tries to prove that they did not originally form part of the 
Hebrew-Aramaic book of Daniel, but were written in Alexandria. 


3834 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


5. More peaceful times under native princes of the tribe of 
Levi, who were at the same time high priests. Simon, 140-135; 
John Hyrcanus, 135-106; Alexander Janneus, 106-78; regency 
of Alexandra and rule of her sons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus. 

6. Roman supremacy (from 63 onwards). 

The books of Holy Scripture that belong to this period are: 

(a) Historical writings: Kings, Chronicles, Esdras and Nehe- 
mias, Esther, Tobias, Judith, Machabees. 

(6) Prophetical writings: Aggeus, Zacharias, Malachias. 

(c) Didactic works: Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom. 


HISTORICAL WRITINGS 


32. THE Books oF KiNn@as? 
(According to the Vulgate, III and IV Kings) 
(22 and 25 chapters) 


1. The Books of Kings were originally not divided; they deal 
with the history of Israel and its kings from Solomon’s accession 
to the Babylonian Captivity, 1.e. with the history, in round 
numbers, of the years 1000-600. 


Three parts may be distinguished: (a) Solomon’s reign, I, i. to xi. 
(6) The two kingdoms, I, xii. to II, xvii. (c) The kingdom of Juda, II, 
XVill. to xxv. 

Book II: i., Solomon becomes king; ii., David’s death; iii., iv., 
Solomon’s wisdom, his court; v., agreement with Hiram of Tyre; vi., the 
Temple is begun; vii. to ix., it is finished and dedicated, other buildings; 
x., Solomon’ splendor, his trade, his power; xi., his wives, idolatry and 
punishment, his death; xii., Roboam becomes king, ten tribes revolt and 
establish the northern kingdom of Israel; xiii. to xvi., the successive 
kings of both States; xvii. to xix., the prophet Elias and his work; xx., 
Eliseus, war against Syria; xxi., Naboth’s vineyard, his unjust murder 
by Achab and Jezabel, Elias’ prophecy against them; xxii., Achab falls 
in war. 

Book IV: i., wonders wrought by Eliseus; ii., the kings of the two 
States fight successfully against King Mesa of Moab; iii. to viii.. the 
worship of Baal prevails in the northern kingdom, and is opposed by 
Eliseus; viii. to x., as idolatry is spreading also in the southern king- 
dom, the kings and people are chastised by means of the Syrian King 
Hasael, and subsequently both kings and Jezabel are killed by Jehu, who 


* The beginning is abrupt; the author continues the second Book of 
Samuel (second of Kings). 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 335 


ascends the throne of Israel; xi., xii., Joas reigns in the southern king- 
dom; xiii., xiv., death of Eliseus, war between the two kingdoms; xv., 
Ozias, King of Juda, has a prosperous reign of fifty-two years, but in 
Israel there are frequent changes in the government, and the Assyrians 
are already demanding tribute; xvi., xvil., Juda too fears the Assyrians, 
who seize the northern kingdom; xviii. to xx., Juda, under the pious 
King Ezechias, is miraculously saved from the Assyrians, and the king 
recovers from a severe illness (supra, p. 316); xxi., Manasses is godless, 
and Amon not much better; xxii. to xxv., Josias is faithful and energetic, 
but his successors Joachaz, Joakim, Jechonias (Joachin) and Sedecias 
become more and more subject to the Babylonians, who finally put an end 
to the kingdom of Juda and carry away the Jews into captivity. 


2. Date and Authorship. The last event recorded in IV 
Kings, xxv. 27, is the kindness shown to Jechonias by King 
Evilmerodach in the thirty-seventh year of his imprisonment, 
i.e. in 560. If the author had known of the release of the 
people from Captivity, he would certainly have added this as a 
fitting conclusion to his work, which must have been written 
during the Captivity. The author is unknown. Judging from 
the style and spirit of the book, we may believe it to be the 
work of a prophet. Its aim unmistakably is to impress upon the 
people of God that happiness is to be found only in confidence 
in God and in serving Him, that misery always follows worldli- 
ness. The Talmud names Jeremias as the author, and this state- 
ment may very well be correct, as the book closely resembles the 
prophet’s work in spirit and in language. This would, however, 
involve our assuming that he began to write it under Josias, 
before the downfall of the kingdom of Juda, and carried it on 
under the last kings, but that another hand, perhaps Baruch’s, 
wrote the conclusion.t In any case it is impossible that the 
books of Samuel and of Kings are by the same author. The 
writer of the former describes events in a more objective way, 
without showing any such design as is apparent in the Book 
of Kings. Moreover, in the latter reference is frequently made 
to authorities,? and never in the former. Finally, in the Hebrew 


* It is possible that Jeremias, of whose death we know nothing certain, 
went to Babylon, and finished the book there at an advanced age. 
Holzhey says that the author, or at least the finisher, of the work was an 
exile, living between Jeremias and Ezechiel. 

* The author refers once to the chronicles of Solomon, and frequently 
to the chronicles of the kings of Israel and of Juda. 


336 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


canon the Books of Kings and Samuel were always separated, 
so that those who collected the books regarded them as being 
of different authorship. It is only in the Greek and Latin 
Bibles that the four books were put together. 

3. Object. The author wishes to show that God has fulfilled 
the promise given in II Samuel vii. 12, ete. God commissioned 
Nathan to tell David that his kingdom should not perish like 
Saul’s, but should last forever. If the kings of his line fell 
into sin they would be punished, but David’s kingdom should 
nevertheless endure. 


33. THE Books OF CHRONICLES (PARALIPOMENA) 
(29 and 36 chapters) 


1. Name. In Hebrew these two books are called dibre hajja- 
mim == words of the days, records of events arranged according 
to the time==annales. The Seventy call them Ilapaderopeva 
== completions, supplements, because they supplement the books 
of Kings. St. Jerome followed the Itala version in calling them 
Chronicon, Chronicles, which name, corresponding as it does both 
with the Hebrew and with the contents, has passed into general 
use. 

2. Contents. The Seventy divided the book, that was origi- 
nally one, into two parts; the first contains twenty-nine chapters, 
and consists of two distinct portions. (a) Chapters i.—ix. contain 
genealogies from Adam to the Jews, who returned from Cap- 
tivity... (b) Chapters x.—-xxix. contain the history of David, but 
his fall into sin is not mentioned. The second book consists of 
thirty-six chapters and contains the history of the kingdom of 
Juda from the time of Solomon to the Captivity. Whatever is 
praiseworthy in the Kings is emphasized, and the only source 


* The genealogies are intended to supply the Israelites, and especially 
their teachers, the priests and Levites, with information regarding the 
place of Israel in the history of the world. Ever since the time of 
Adam one race of believers has been chosen by God from among all other 
nations, and from this race redemption and the Redeemer are to come. 
Seth, Noe, Sem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Juda and David are the chief 
representatives of this blessed line, and they are the ancestors of the 
Messias. Cf. Matt. i. and Luke iii. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 337 


of happiness is shown to be fidelity towards God. Nothing is 
said of the northern kingdom and its rulers, because they have 
alienated themselves from the blessed line of David, and so have 
no share in the salvation that is to come. 


Book I: i., genealogy of Jacob; ii. genealogy of Juda; iii., pedi- 
gree of David; iv., descendants of Juda and Simeon; v., of Ruben 
and Gad; vi., of Manasses and Levi; vii., of Issachar, Benjamin and 
Nephtali; viii., of Ephraim and Aser; ix., Saul’s pedigree; families in 
Jerusalem; x., Saul’s death; xi., David and his heroes; xii., David’s 
Army; xiii., xiv., David’s wars; xv., xvi., bringing of the Ark to Sion; 
xvii., David determines to build a temple; xviii. to xx., fresh victories; 
xXxi., numbering of the people, and the punishment for it; xxil., prepara- 
tions for building the Temple; xxiii. to xxvii., arrangement and duties of 
the persons concerned with the Temple worship; xxviii., xxix., last direc- 
tions for the building, Solomon’s accession, David’s death. 

Book II: i., Solomon’s wisdom; ii. to iv., building of the Temple; 
v. to vii., the Ark is brought into it; Solomon’s prayer; vili., other 
buildings; ix., the Queen of Saba, Solomon’s wealth and magnificence ; 
x. to xii., Roboam, division of the kingdom; xiii., Abia; xiv. to xvi., 
Asa; xvii. to xx., Josaphat; xxi., Joram; xxii., Ozochias; xxiil., xxiv., 
Joas prospers as long as he serves God, but falls into idolatry and mis- 
ery; xxv., Amasias has a similar fate and xxvi., Ozias; xxvii., Joatham 
is happier because he fears God; xxviii., Achaz is godless, and therefore 
unhappy; Xxix. to xxxii., Ezechias is a good king; xxxilil., Manasses 

and Amon; xxxiv., xxxv., Josias is faithful; xxxvi., downfall of Juda. 


3. Author. According to tradition these books were written 
by Esdras, although this is disputed by many critics, who believe 
them compiled in the fourth or third century before Christ. 
The language and style, however, really resemble those of the 
Book of Esdras, which forms an immediate sequel to it. In any 
case it was not written until after the Captivity. This is shown 
by the exalted religious consciousness and by the absence of all 
mention of the history of Samaria, for the northern kingdom 
was then occupied not by Israelites, but by hostile Samaritans, 
who were to have no interest in the work. Another mark of its 
late composition is the mention in I, xxix. 7 of darics as cur- 
rent coins; they would become so only under the Persian 
supremacy. ‘The mention of them precludes the possibility of 
its belonging to the period of Greek influence, because the 
Macedonians introduced talents and drachmas. 

4. Object. Esdras had one chief and one secondary object in 


3398 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


writing. The former was to compile a history of the Israelite 
nation and its kings viewed in their best and laudable aspect, so 
that the religious and national feelings of the people might be 
roused, and that they might be convinced of their being the 
most important nation in the world, because of God’s revelations 
to them.* His secondary object was to supplement the Books 
of Kings. Closely connected with Chronicles are the following: 


34. THE Books or EsprRAS AND NEHEMIAS 
(10 and 13 chapters) 


In the Vulgate the former is called the First and the latter the Second 
Book of Esdras. The similarity in»their contents enables us to discuss 
them together, and they have always been regarded as closely connected, 
both by the Jews and the Church. 


1. Contents. These books contain an account of the restora- 
tion of civil and religious order in the Holy Land after the 
return of the Jews from Captivity. Esdras and Nehemias were 
especially active in promoting this restoration. 


Contents of the Book of Esdras. Chapters ivi. Return of the Jewa 
from Captivity in Babylon (536 B.c.); rebuilding and dedication of the 
Temple (515). Chapters vii.—x. Return of another large body of Israel- 
ites under the priest Esra or Esdras, who was zealous in restoring or- 
derly government and protested against the evil practice of marrying 
heathen women. 

Contents of the Book of Nehemias. Chapters i—vii. Account of the 
rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and of settling a fixed government 
among the Jews who had returned. This was particularly the work of 
Nehemias, an official at the Persian court. Chapters vili—x. Esdras reads 
the Law of Moses to the people, and makes them solemnly renew their 
covenant with God. Chapters xi.—xili. Supplement added by Nehemias 


* The obvious existence of this object has led critics to question the 
historical accuracy of this book. Bleek-Wellhausen, Vatke and Stade 
consider that the author falsified history, and left out or altered what- 
ever did not harmonize with his own views regarding the Temple wor- 
ship, as being the only one sanctioned by God. Stade even thinks the 
whole book more or less untrustworthy, but the reasons stated as grounds 
for this serious charge are insignificant. That the author has omitted a 
good deal that is found in the Books of Kings is to be explained as in 
keeping with his object, but he cannot on that account be charged with 
falsification of history. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 339 


regarding his own special work in the Holy Land. All the information 
given in the books is fragmentary in form. 

Many critics have questioned the trustworthiness of the various letters 
and lists in the books, and especially of the: correspondence with the Per- 
sian court. In HEntstehung des Judentums (Halle, 1896), Eduard Meyer, 
an historian by no means inclined to Yahwism, furnishes proof that the 
documents are undoubtedly genuine, a fact that surprised no one more 
than the author himself. 


2. Date of Esdras and Nehemias. The two men were con- 
temporaries and supplemented each other’s work. Esdras de- 
voted his attention more to religious matters; Nehemias to 
external and political arrangements. The reign of Artaxerxes | 
Longimanus, King of Persia, is generally said to coincide with 
the period of their activity (465-425), and this is probably 
correct.1 It is objected that the King Artaxerxes to whom 
Nehemias was cupbearer, could not have been Artaxerxes I, be- 
cause the Samaritan governor Sanaballat, mentioned in Nehe- 
mias ll. 19 and xiii. 28, was still alive, according to Josephus 
Flavius (Ant., XI, vil. 2), when Alexander the Great appeared 
upon the scene. As Nehemias (xii. 6) alludes to the thirty- 
second year of Artaxerxes’ reign, this cannot have been Ar- 
taxerxes III Ochus (362-339), and so it must have been 
Artaxerxes If Mnemon (405-362); and in this way Nehemias 
and Esdras were not at work until after 400; the activity of 
Esdras may be dated as beginning in 398, and that of Nehemias 
in 384 (Kaulen, Hinl., U1, 73). Josephus Flavius is, however, 
not a trustworthy authority regarding the history of Esdras and 
Nehemias, and very probably he has made a mistake here.” 

3. Authorship. The books are not the work of one man, but 
consist of a collection of official documents and private records. 


1 So Welte, Kirchenlexikon, Art. Esra (1st ed.), also Loch and 
Reischl, ii., p. 2; Reusch, Hinlettung, 125; Cornely, Introd. Comp., 266; 
Father A. Hammerschmid in the Passauer Monatschrift, 1894; Hoon- 
acker, Nehemie et Esdras: id. Zorobabel et le second temple; id. Nou- 
velles études sur la restauration, etc., Paris et Louvain, 1890, 92, 96; 
Guthe, Bibellex. Esdras began work in 458, Nehemias in 445, and con- 
tinued until 433 or 432. 

2 In matters of chronology not much confidence can be placed in Jo- 
sephus, as appears from his confusing King John Hyreanus (135-106) 
with his grandson, Hyrcanus II (63-40), as he does in his “‘ History of the 
Jewish People.” _ 


340 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Of the latter, those in Esdras vil—x. were written by Esdras, and 
those in Nehemias i-vil. and xi—xiii. by Nehemias; the others 
are of unknown authorship. It is very likely that Esdras made 
the whole collection, as Jewish tradition has always affirmed ; 
though a later hand may have given the books their present 
form. 


This is inferred from Neh. xii. 22, where “ Darius the Persian” may be 
understood to be Darius Codomanus; the addition of the word “ Persian ” 
implies that other, viz., Greek kings, were already recognized. In the 
same passage there is mention of a high priest named Jeddoa, who, ac- 
cording to Josephus, met Alexander the Great (Ant., XI, viii. 4). But 
too much stress must not be laid on these speculations. Darius the 
Persian may be Darius Nothus, who ascended the throne in 425, and was 
therefore contemporaneous with Esdras and Nehemias. Cyrus and Ar- 
taxerxes are repeatedly called “ Kings of the Persians,” and the Jews 
spoke of them thus to distinguish them from their own former kings. 
The high priest, who went to meet Alexander, was not necessarily Jeddoa ; 
Josephus seems to have made a mistake in his chronology here as else- 
where. It is quite likely that the whole work, as we have it, was written 
by Esdras.’ 


35. THe Boox or ESTHER 


(16 chapters: i.—x. 3, protocanonical; x. 4-xvi. 24, deuterocanonical) 


1. Contents. This book relates how a pious Jewish maiden, 
named Esther,? became the wife of the Persian King Assuerus 
(Achaschwerosch), and how she frustrated a plan formed by 
Aman, a proud official at court, to have all the Jews in the 
Persian empire massacred. In memory of this event the feast 
of Purim * was instituted, and it is still kept by the Jews at 
the end of February or the beginning of March. The king, whose 


* In most editions of the Vulgate there are two other books, called the 
third and fourth of Esdras, which at one time were regarded as sacred, 
but now belong to the apocrypha, not having been declared canonical by 
the Council of Trent (supra, p. 208). The third Book, called in the 
Septuagint the first, contains nine chapters supplementary to our first 
Esdras; the fourth, also known as the Apocalypse of Esdras, contains 
prophecies and visions of Esdras, in sixteen chapters. 

* The Hebrew name was Hadassa (Myrtle), Lat. Edissa; the Persian 
Esther = dornp, star. 

* Pur, a Persian word (Assyr., purw) = lot, pl. Purim = lots. Aman 
had chosen the day for the massacre by lot; it was to be the thirteenth 
Adar. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 341 


wife Esther became, and who is called in the Hebrew text 
Achaschwerosch, is probably Xerxes I (485-465), known to us 
from the wars between Greeks and Persians.t The Greek text 
calls. him Artaxerxes; in the Vulgate, from chapter i—x., he 
is Assuerus; from xi.—xvi., Artaxerxes (Luther wrote the name 
Ahasverus). Most ancient commentators identified this king 
with Artaxerxes Longimanus (465-425). 


Contents according to the Vulgate: i., Feast of Assuerus; rejection of 
Queen Vashti. 1i., Esther becomes queen, but at the bidding of her uncle 
Mardochai is silent as to her origin. Conspiracy of two courtiers is dis- 
covered by Mardochai. iii., Aman, a foreigner, is exalted above all the 
king’s servants, and all, with the sole exception of Mardochai, kneel down 
at his approach. Aman procures from the king orders for the massacre 
of all the Jews in the empire. iv., v., Mardochai and Esther are horri- 
fied. Esther goes to the king, but at first only asks that he and Aman 
will come to a feast at her house. The request is granted, and the feast 
is to be held on the following day. Aman prepares the gallows for 
Mardochai. vi., the king wishes to reward Mardochai for saving his 
fife, so he orders Aman to lead the hated Jew, dressed in gorgeous rai- 
ment, about the city, and to proclaim him everywhere to be the king’s 
favorite. vii., Aman is overthrown and hanged on the gallows that he 
has prepared. viii., ix., the Jews receive permission to use arms in 
self-defense. Institution of the Feast of Purim. Mardochai becomes 
chief official at court and records all these events. x., xi., Mardochai’s 
dream and its interpretation. xii., the king’s decree against the Jews. 
xiii. Mardochai’s prayer. xiv., Esther’s prayer. xv., account of 
Esther’s appearance before the king. xvi., the king’s decree in favor of 
the Jews. 


2. Canonicity. In the Hebrew text the book has ten chapters; 
in the Latin sixteen. The Septuagint also has ten chapters, like 
the Hebrew, but they are very much longer. Saint Jerome, from 
whom our Latin text has come down to us, supplied from the 
Septuagint those passages which do not occur in the Hebrew 
text. There are many Hebraisms in these deuterocanonical por- 
tions, and this fact, as well as the existence of another Greek 
text, independent of the Septuagint,’ but of the same length, 
proves that the present Hebrew text is only an extract from an 


1 In the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis, the name of Xerxes ap- 
pears as “ Chsajarsa, son of King Darius.” In this form it bears some 
resemblance to Achaschwerosch. See Kaulen, Vinive und Babyl., p. 112. 
Xerxes I was the only king of that name who ruled more than seven 
years; in ii. 16 the seventh year of the king’s reign is mentioned, 

* See Fritzsche, Libri apocr. Vet. Test. greece, Lips., 1871. 


342 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


older Hebrew work, which the Seventy translated in extenso, and 
thus have preserved. 


The present Hebrew text bears no mark of religion; the name of God 
does not occur once in it. It was probably mutilated, because gradually 
the Feast of Purim came to be regarded by the Jews as a kind of Satur- 
nalia or Carnival. Hence the Greek and Latin text is preferable. 


3. Author. We might be inclined to regard Esther’s uncle 
and guardian, Mardochai, as the author, for, according to ix. 
20," he recorded at least the chief points of the history. But in 
ix, 23, 26 the author of the whole book seems to be clearly 
distinguished from Mardochai;* he must have been a Jew, living 
somewhat later, who used Mardochai’s writings and the Persian 
annals as his sources of information. Possibly Esdras or 
Nehemias may have been the author. ‘The book was read aloud 
at the Feast of Purim. 

4. The Date of Composttion certainly coincides with the exist- 
ence of the Persian Empire. The book was written whilst the 
events recorded in it were still fresh in the author’s memory, 
and it reveals a very detailed knowledge of the Persian court 
and of the habits of the people, and speaks with great respect 
of the ruling family in Persia. 

5. The Object of the book is to express thanks for the provi- 
dential preservation of God’s people. 


36. THe Boox or Tostras ? 


(Deuterocanonical, 14 chapters) 


1. Contents. As a reward for his deeds of mercy Tobias is 
delivered from great misery. ‘This at once indicates the object 
of the book, which is intended to inculcate the duty of charity 


* “ Mardochai wrote all these things, and sent them comprised in 
letters to the Jews that abode in all the king’s provinces.” 

* “The Jews undertook to observe with solemnity all they had begun 
to do at that time, which Mardochai by letters had commanded to be 
done. .. . And since that time these days are called Phurim, that is, 
of Lots.” 

* In the Vulgate, father and son are both called Tobias = Tobja = 
*“Good is the Lord.” In the Greek, the father is Tobit and the son 
Tobias. In the Chaldee, the father is Tobi, and the son Tobja. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 343 


towards one’s neighbors, and especially towards those of the 
same faith (cf. Gal. vi. 10). 


Chapter i—iv., Tobias, a pious Israelite of the tribe of Nephtali, was 
taken into captivity by the Assyrians and carried to Ninive, with many 
of his countrymen from the northern kingdom. He won respect and be- 
came wealthy, so that he was often able to help men of his own nation, 
and he provided for the burial of many Israelites when they died. Later 
he fell into poverty and became blind, and in his sorrow prayed for 
death. The same prayer was offered at the same time in Ecbatana by a 
young woman named Sara, who was suspected of being a murderess. 
Both prayers are answered in a most unexpected way, for an angel is 
sent to their help. v.—vii., Tobias, the son, undertakes a journey to ask 
for the payment of money owing to them; he is accompanied on the way 
by the angel Raphael in human form, and by means of the angel’s help, 
the fortunes of the family are restored. viii., ix., young Tobias not only 
recovers the loan, but obtains Sara, a rich and God-fearing woman, as 
his wife. x.—xiv., the elder Tobias recovers his eyesight; the angel re- 
veals his rank and vanishes. 


2. Text. The book has not come down to us in the original, 
but only in translations, which to some extent differ from one 
another. It was written at first in Chaldee or Hebrew. Saint 
Jerome had a Chaldee text and made his translation from it 
in the space of one day, as he tells us in the preface. This 
haste did not detract from the value of his work, for he read 
the Chaldee with a Rabbi, and then dictated the translation to 
a skillful scribe. The Jews and Protestants do not admit this 
book to the canon, because the original text is not extant, but 
all the five texts that we have (viz. three Greek versions besides 
the Itala and the Vulgate) show distinctly an Oriental and even 
a Semitic character. Recently a Chaldee text has been discov- 
ered, but scholars do not regard it as the original, and believe it 
is a translation from the Hebrew. A Hebrew text was actually 
published in 1897.7 


Of the Greek texts, the one used in the Greek Church holds the first 
rank. The Codex Sinaiticus contains another, on which the Itala version, 


1 Numerous Hebraisms can easily be detected, e.g. chap. ili. 1 and 9, 
dicens (9x5) ; iii. 15, desuper terram (YSN by JD); il, 24, 25, in 
conspectu (%D9); vi. 15, deponam senectutem illorum cum tristitia ad 
inferos (MOINW pyI NI w-NKX ONIN), as in Gen. xlii. 38, Cf. also xii. 
8, 15, ete. The Chaldee text was published in 1878 by Neubauer, the 
Hebrew in 1897 by Gaster. 


344 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


that is quite complete, is based. A third Greek text was the foundation 
for the Syriac text in the Peshitto. 


3. Date of Composition. The book was probably written in 
captivity, either in Assyria or in Babylonia, to console the exiled 
Israelites. 

4. The Author is unknown. According to the Greek texts 
(Sept., xu. 20) both father and son wrote down their story. 
Some later author made use of these accounts and added in- 
formation gathered from the lips of the people. 


Vetter thinks that the book was written between 250 and 150 B.c., 
and was composed in Hebrew during the Assyrian-Babylonian disper- 
sion. The material is a family history, preserved on the lips of the 
people, and made use of by the author for a didactic purpose. 

A manuscript (ninth century) from Freising, and now in Munich, 
contains a Latin text of Tobias, Judith and Esther. It is an Itala text, 
and varies considerably from the Vulgate. 


37. Tue Book of JUDITH 


(Deuterocanonical; 16 chapters) 


1. Contents. In the time of Eliachim, the high priest, divi- 
sions of the Assyrian army penetrated into the north of the 
Holy Land and besieged the little mountain stronghold of 
Bethulia.* 


Chaper i., supremacy of Nabuchodonosor. ii., campaign of Holofernes, 
lii., iv., preparations of the Jews for resistance. v., Achior, the Ammo- 
nite, reports to Holofernes that the Jews are invincible whenever they 
are faithful to their God; they are so at this time, and therefore he has 
no prospect of success. vi., Achior is given over to the Jews that he may 
perish with them. vii., Holofernes besieges Bethulia. viii., the inhabit- 
ants are disposed to surrender. Judith encourages the leaders.  ix., 
Judith’s prayer. x. to xii., her visit to Holofernes, who receives her 
kindly. xiii., after a feast she cuts off his head and carries it to Be- 
thulia. xiv., xv., horror of the Assyrians, their defeat. xvi., Judith’s 
song of praise. 


2. Text. This book also is not in the Jewish canon, because 
the original text has perished. It can scarcely be determined 


1 Now Beit Ilva. The inhabitants, constrained by want of water, were 
on the point of surrendering the town, when a pious widow, named 
Judith, killed the heathen general, Holofernes, by a stratagem, and so 
delivered her native place. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 345 


whether it was in Hebrew or Chaldee. That in the fourth 
century a Chaldee text still existed is proved by the fact that 
Saint Jerome made his translation from one.t Besides the 
Vulgate text we have the Septuagint Greek version, which is 
plainly a translation and not the original, as it is quite at 
variance with the genius of the Greek language. From it the 
texts of the Itala and Peshitto have been derived. | 

3. The Author is unknown. He must have written the book 
either just before or during the Babylonian Captivity. This is 
indicated both by the use of the Chaldee language and by refer- 
ences in the text (xiv. 6; xvi. 30) to the time that elapsed 
between the occurrence and the recording of the events. 

4. Difficulties. The chief arguments against the historical 
character of the book are derived from the fact that we do not 
hear elsewhere of any high priest named Eliachim, nor of any 
Assyrian king named Nabuchodonosor. However, in IV Kings 
xvill. 18 and Is. xxii. 20, xxxvi. 3, etc., we read of an Eliachim 
who was son of the high priest Helcias in the reign of King 
Iizechias, and he no doubt in time succeeded his father. If it 
is thought surprising that the high priest, rather than the king, 
should take measures for the defense of the country, it should 
be remembered that, according to II Chronicles xxxiii. 11, King 
Manasses, son of Hzechias, was taken prisoner by the Assyrians 
and kept in captivity for some time. We may therefore assign 
the events in the story of Judith to his reign. The name 
Nabuchodonosor was more familiar to the Jewish scribes who- 
copied the sacred books, than the names of the Assyrian kings, 
and it might easily happen that an uneducated Jew fancied 
that he ought to substitute the better known name for Assur- 
banipal. The same remark applies to the name of Arphaxad, 


7 See his preface to the book of Judith: ‘“ Among the Hebrews the 
book of Judith is classed with the apocrypha, and its authority is con- 
sidered less in settling disputed points. It was written in the Chaldee 
language and is reckoned among the historical books. Because it is as- 
serted that the Council of Nica placed this book among the Holy Scrip- 
tures, I have yielded to your demand or rather compulsion, and, laying 
aside some work on which I was deeply engaged, I have produced a little 
explanation (translation) rendering it more according to the sense than 
{o the letter.” 


346 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


king of the Medes (i. 1; i. 5); we probably ought to read 
Arbaces. 

5. Authority. Apart from the testimony of the Church, the 
truth of the whole story is vouched for by the existence of 
several Midrashim, i. e. Jewish commentaries upon the book, and 
also by the institution of a festival, resembling the feast of 
Purim, in honor of the victory. The festival is mentioned in 
the Vulgate xvi. 31, but in the Greek text the last verse in 
omitted, probably because at the time of the Seventy the cele- 
bration of it had fallen into disuse.’ 

6. Object. The author wished to prove that God’s people 
were safe under His protection as long as they were faithful 
to Him (v. 25). , 


38. THe Books oF MACHABEES” 


(Deuterocanonical, 16 and 15 chapters) 


1. Contents of the First Book. It records the history of the 
wars waged by the Jews against the kings of Syria (175-140). 
Under the Seleucide the Jews had been much oppressed, and 
Antiochus [IV Epiphanes (175-163) had shown himself particu- 
larly cruel. He wished to establish his supremacy by securing 
religious uniformity, and ordered the Jews to take part in the 
Greco-Syrian worship; but they steadfastly refused to do this. 
A terrible persecution followed, and God had chosen Mathathias 
the priest and his sons to be the instruments of saving His 
people. They laid ambuscades and attacked the Syrians first 
in one place, then in another, winning more and more adherents 
among the people, until finally they recovered the Temple that 
the Syrians had desecrated. The greatest glory of this achieve- 
ment fell to Mathathias’ son Judas, who was surnamed maggaba 
== hammer; he carried on the work that his father had begun, 


1 Bellarmine, De Controversiis Fidei, defends the book. Like Kaulen 
and Cornely, he places the story of Judith in the time of Manasses. 
Scholz regards the book as allegorical (see infra, p. 455), and N. Peters 
agrees with him. 

* The Vulgate spelling of the name is Machabeus, probably with ref- 
erence to the Talmud form 1359, The Septuagint has Maxxafaios. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 347 


and brought the whole country under his sway. From him the 
name Machabeus passed to the whole family of Mathathias. 
When Judas was killed in battle in 161 B.c., his equally heroic 
brother Jonathan took his place as leader, and he again was 
followed by Simon, who restored peace to the land. The Jews 
in their gratitude bestowed upon him (140 B.c.) the crown, to 
be hereditary in his family. He was succeeded by his son 
John Hyrcanus (135-106). 


Chap. i., ii., cause of the wars; iii—ix., acts of Judas (166-161) ; 
ix.—xii., acts of Jonathan (161-143); xiii—xvi., acts of Simon (143- 
135). 


2. The Author was a Jew, for the book was written originally 
in Hebrew, as Saint Jerome testifies. As towards the end 
(chap. xvi.) King John Hyrcanus is mentioned in terms of 
the highest praise, many people have supposed him to be the 
author. But no writer is in the habit of extolling himself, and 
it is better to assume that whoever wrote the book knew John 
Hyrcanus, and composed it during his reign. The author was 
very likely a priest. 

3. Text. The Hebrew original text has perished, and we 
know the book only through the Septuagint translation; it was 
the source of the Vulgate version, for the Itala was translated 
from the Septuagint, and Saint Jerome accepted it without 
alteration. 

4. Contents of the Second Book. This book has no right to 
the name “ Machabees,” and is not a continuation of the first. 


It contains (chapters i. and ii.) two letters sent by the Jews in Pal- 
estine to their fellow countrymen in Egypt, inviting them to join in 
keeping the feast of the Dedication of the Temple. Then follows a 
preface and then some additions to the first book, viz. (chapter iii.) an 
account of Heliodorus, who robbed the Temple, (chapter iv.) some 
wicked high priests, (chapter v.) the cruelty of Antiochus and (chapter 
vi.) of his companions, displayed especially in the case of the aged scribe 
Eleazar and (chapter vii.) of a Jewish mother with seven sons. Then 


1 Prologus galeatus: Machabeorum primum librum hebraicum re- 
peri. Secundus grecus est, quod ex ipsa quoque phrasi probari potest. 
The language of the two books differs greatly; the first contains a num- 
ber of unmistakable Hebraisms, while the second is absolutely Greek in 
character. 


348 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


follow accounts of (chapter viii.) the victories of Judas, (chapter ix.) the 
death of Antiochus, (chapter x.) the purification of the Temple, and 
finally (chapters xi—xv.) further successes of the Jews against the Syr- 
ians and other neighboring nations. 


5. The Author is unknown. He is generally believed to have 
been a Jew, living either in Egypt or in Palestine. 


In the preface or prologue (ii. 24), the author states that a certain 
Jason of Cyrene, who is otherwise unknown, but was certainly a Jew 
(Jason, Greek = Josue), wrote in five books a history of God’s people 
during the Syrian persecution, and he himself aimed at making a care- 
ful abridgement of it. As in the case of the First Book of Machabees, 
the history begins with the year 175, but it ends with 161. Like the 
work from which it is abridged, this Second Book of Machabees was 
composed in Greek, as Saint Jerome rightly perceived. Greek was spoken 
at that time at Cyrene in North Africa, where Jason lived, and the com- 
piler of our book seems also to have lived in Africa, and probably in 
Egypt, as the two letters at the beginning indicate. He knew the Holy 
Land very well, however (see iii. 15 and vi. 2), and consequently many 
people believed that he wrote his book there. This theory finds support 
from his using the Syrian method of dating events (i. 7 and 10), which 
could hardly have been familiar in Africa. 


6. Date of Composition. The work cannot have been written 
much before 100 B.c., as in i. 10 the year 188 of the era of 
the Seleucidze is mentioned. This era began in 312 B.C., so 
188 in it would correspond with 124 B. c. 


PROPHETIC WRITINGS 


39. AagGgEus 1 


(2 chapters) 


This prophet is known to us only by name; he came into 
prominence at the time of Zorobabel, in the second year of the 
reign of Darius Hystaspis (520). His task was to encourage 
the Israelites to continue the building of the Temple, that had 
been interrupted for many years, and he succeeded in his un- 
dertaking. Only four short speeches of his have come down 
to us; they are closely connected and contain the essence of 
his exhortations. Their authenticity is not questioned. 


1 131 = festivals, festive. Saint Jerome: Festivus. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 349 


Aggeus addressed his words to Zorobabel, who then governed the 
country, and to Josue, the high priest. (i.) He reproaches the Israelites 
with building their own houses and leaving the house of God neglected. 
They seem to have feared that the poor imitation of Solomon’s Temple, 
which was all that the impoverished Jews could build, would not please 
God, and that He would not be willing to dwell in it. For this reason 
the prophet assures them (ii.) that this Temple will surpass the other 
in splendor, for a great change will take place among all nations, so that 
all eyes will turn with reverence towards Jerusalem, whence peace shall 
proceed. (iii.) A third speech declares that God ean take no pleasure 
in His people, as long as they display no zeal for the Law and for build- 
ing the Temple. (iv.) The fourth speech is addressed particularly to 
Zorobabel, and contains the promise that the house of David, to which 
he belongs, may look for God’s protection, although all other royal races 
shall perish. 


40. ZACHARIAS 2 


(14 chapters) 


1. Personality. Zacharias was the son of.Barachias and the 
grandson of Addo, one of the most respected priests, who had 
returned with Zorobabel from captivity. He came forward about 
the same time as Aggeus, in 520, but as he is spoken of as 
naar (youth) in 1. 4, he seems to have acted as a prophet while 
still very young. 

2. Contents. Like the Book of Isaias, which it to some ex- 
tent resembles, the Book of Zacharias falls into two parts: In 
one the prophet speaks of the present and the immediate future 
of God’s kingdom in the Holy Land, in the other of the more 
distant future of God’s reign in the Church. The first part 
consists of chapters i.—vi., the second of ix.—xiv., and vu. and 
vii. serve to connect the two. 


In the first part there are several visions regarding God’s watchful 
eare for Israel, now restored to be a nation, and at the close there is a 
symbolical act. Chapter i. Introductory: Before the Captivity God 
often gave warnings to his people by means of the prophets, but they 
would not hear, so punishment came upon them. Now mercy shall 
again be shown them. i. 7-17, mankind is awestruck, and great changes 
are made in the national life through God’s intervention. i. 18-ii. 4. All 
enemies who have risen up against Israel are destroyed. ii. 5-17. In 
God’s kingdom there must be room for Jews and Gentiles. iii. 1-10. The 
high priest Josue is mediator between God and the people, and a type 
of the Messias. iv. Zorobabel will restore the Temple. v. When the 


+ IDI = remembrance of the Lord. 


350 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Temple worship is revived, the people will again become pleasing to God. 
vi. 1-8. God has power to turn aside, chastise and destroy the enemies 
of His kingdom. vi. 9-15. Symbolical act: The prophet has to crown 
Josue, the high priest, as a type of the Messias. 

In chapter vii. the question is raised whether fasting pleases God. 
That it does so, is not denied, but at the same time we are told that 
right dispositions, and especially charity towards one’s neighbor, are 
more important than merely exterior forms of religion. viii. “If this 
rule is observed, the nations of the Gentiles will have recourse to you.” 

The next six chapters contain two speeches, ix.—xi. and xii.-xiv. The 
first is addressed to the powers of the Gentiles, the second to Israel 
itself. First speech, ix. All the enemies of God’s kingdom must be 
humbled and made to serve it, but its ruler shall be gentle, and shall 
enter Jerusalem on a she-ass. x. The people of Israel, though long sub- 
ject to the powers of the world, will in the end be gathered together by 
God from all parts, and will receive mercy. xi. Unhappily Israel rebels 
against its Lord and Shepherd, and values him at no more than 30 pieces 
of silver. Second speech, xii. Jerusalem will be for all nations the center 
of the world’s history. xiii. The Jewish nation will despise the salvation 
and the Saviour offered them by God, and the majority of them must 
therefore perish,—only a small remnant will find mercy, and become 
God’s people. xiv. The new institution, intended to give salvation, will 
meet with much opposition, but will be a source of happiness for all 
nations. 


The second part is obscure, and its language differs somewhat 
from that of the first. This fact, and also the allusion to 
idolatry and false prophets, of whom we hear nothing after the 
Captivity,’ have led many to think that Zacharias did not write 
these chapters, but that they belong either to a much earlier 
or to a later period. Jewish and Christian tradition are op- 
posed to such a theory. The collection of the Minor Prophets 
was made not long after the time of Zacharias (Hcclus. xlix. 
12) and they were translated into Greek; if these chapters 
were added to the first part without comment, it must have 
been because no uncertainty was felt as to their origin. 


41. MALACHIAS ? 
(4 chapters, in Hebrew 3) 
1. Contents. (1) Reproof addressed to the priests for their 
negligence and rapacity in the sacrifical worship. The prophet 


1 The words refer only to Israel’s former transgressions. 
2 Heb. "ND, i.e. probably TON, the ambassador of the Lord. 


( 
i= 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 351 


takes occasion to proclaim the new and more perfect sacrifice 
on behalf of the whole world. (2) Reproof addressed to the 
people for their evil practices with regard to marriage. (3) 
Announcement of the Messias and His Forerunner. 


i. God speaks through Malachias: Jacob and Esau were brothers, and 
had therefore equal claims upon God’s providence. Jacob and his de- 
scendants were always favored, but they showed no gratitude or love in 
return. The priests in particular display very little respect for God 
when they sacrifice lame, blind and diseased animals. Such gifts would 
be rejected by the Persian governor (pecha). Moreover, there is care- 
lessness about the sacrificial worship. The offerings of the Jews do not 
please God, who chooses instead a pure sacrifice, that shall be offered in 
all parts of the world. ii. In the past, people, priests and Levites were 
far more zealous in observing the covenant with God. Israel is now 
rejected for its indifference. Marriage is not what it should be, and 
God is displeased with the mixed marriages and frequency of divorce. 
(This points to the new marriage law to be given by the Messias.) 
iii. The forerunner of the Messias will soon appear, and be followed by 
the Ruler Himself, the angel of the Covenant, whom all await. Almost 
the whole Jewish nation will show itself incapable of understanding and 
accepting the salvation that is to come through the Messias. 


2. Personality. We know nothing of the prophet who wrote 
this little book. In chapter in. 1 mention is made of a “ mes- 
senger” of the Lord (mal’ak) who is to precede the Messias, 
and the Messias Himself is called the “messenger of the cove- 
nant’; and hence we may infer that the prophet who uttered 
these words was not known by name, and that his prophecy was 
described as that “of the messenger,” from its contents. Some 
think that Esdras was the author. The Seventy believed the 
name to be fictitious, and so wrote as a heading in their trans- 
lation: Ajmpa Adyou Kupiov éri Tov ’lopanr ev yeipt ayyédou 
avrov. The Vulgate, however, reads: Onus verbt Domini ad 
Israel in manu Malachie. Most people agree with the Vul- 
gate and assume that there really was a prophet named Mala- 
chias, who was the author of this little book. 

3. Date. Malachias is the last of the prophets; hence the 
position of the book in the canon. The Temple seems to have 
been built when he wrote, but as he rebukes the same evils as 
are mentioned in the books of Esdras, viz. carelessness in the 
sacrificial worship, and abuses connected with marriage, he may 
be regarded as contemporaneous with Esdras and Nehemias. 


352 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


We may agree with Cornill in thinking that his activity began rather 
earlier than the time of Esdras and Nehemias, as afterwards there was 
some improvement on the points that he censures. 


DIDACTIC WRITINGS 


42. STRACH, OR ECCLESIASTICUS 


(Deuterocanonical, 51 chapters) 


1. This sacred book is called Sirach, after its author, and 
Ecclesiasticus (liber), probably because it was believed to be 
modeled on Ecclesiastes. Others have thought that its name, 
“ Book of the Church,” was derived from its frequent use in the 
worship of the church. The Seventy call it “ The Wisdom of 
Jesus, son of Sirach,” or “ Wisdom of Sirach.” The Peshitto 
title is “ Wisdom of Sirach’s son.” 

2. Contents. ‘The book is a collection of proverbs, admoni- 
tions and instructions, resembling the Proverbs of Solomon. 
The contents are strung together without any definite arrange- 
ment. It may be divided into a preface * and the following four 
parts: (a) Instruction on wisdom in general (chap. 1.); (0) 
collection of proverbs, constituting the chief part of the book 
(11.—xhil.) ; (¢) survey of the history of the people of revela- 
tion and praise of the great men belonging to that nation 
xliv.-l.) ; (d) the author’s thanksgiving for God’s protection and 
for the gift of wisdom (l.). Parts (b) and (c) are connected 
by considerations of God’s greatness revealed in nature (xlil. 
15-xlin. 37). 


(a) 1., origin and fruits of wisdom; its connection with the fear of 
God. 

(b) ii. l-iv. 11, the spirit of humility and beneficence are essential 
conditions to wisdom. iv. 12—v. 18, wisdom is the highest good in life. 
vi. 1-ix. 25, instructions for intercourse with other people. x. 1-xi. 36, 
behavior in wealth and poverty, in prosperity and affliction. xii. 1—xiii. 
32, prudence in acts of charity and in dealing with the powerful. xiv. 
]—xvii. 31, do good in the fear of God, and all will be rewarded. xviii. 
1—xxili. 38, warnings against various sins. xxiv. 1-47, God’s wisdom is 
a model for man’s, xxv. ]-xxvi. 28, instructions on every-day life and 
family matters. xxvii. 1-xxxi. 42, instructions regarding anger, revenge, 


* The preface was not written by the author, but by his grandson, 
who translated the book into Greek. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 353 


education and temperance. xxxil. 1-xxxv. 26, instructions for those in 
authority. xxxvi. 1-19, may God have mercy on His people. xxxvi. 20- 
xlii. 14, behavior towards counselors; in sickness, in death; the wise 
man ever seeks to learn, thus he obtains much happiness even amidst the 
changing circumstances of life. xlii, ]5—xlili. 37, all creation bears wit- 
ness to God’s power and glory. 

(c) xliv., praise of Henoch, Noe, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. xlv., 
of Moses, Aaron and Phinees. xlvi., of Josue and Caleb; of Samuel. 
xlvii., of Nathan, David and Solomon. xlviii., of Elias, Eliseus, Ezechias 
and Isaias. xlix., of Josias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, Zorobabel and Nehe- 
mias. l., of the high priest Simon. 

(d) li., thanksgiving of Jesus Sirach. 


Holy Scripture itself, i.e. the earlier books in it, is the chief 
source of these instructions. It is suggested in the preface that 
the author, after reading and piously meditating upon the sacred 
books, had himself derived the benefit of beimg filled with the 
Holy Spirit. Deep study of Scripture led up to inspiration — 
a hint for all who have to make known the word of God. 


The author seems to have read and studied especially the book of 
Solomon’s Proverbs, for which reason this book also used to be ascribed 
to Solomon. This is true in as far as Solomon’s wisdom is one of its 
chief sources. In the liturgy it is referred to as “ Liber sapientie.” 


3. Language. The book was written originally in Hebrew, 
but for a long time the Septuagint had to replace the original, 
and the work was known only in translations. That the Greek 
is not the original appears from the many Hebraisms that it 
contains, and from the frequent parallelism in the parts of the 
verses. Saint Jerome says (Pref. in libros Sal.) that he had 
seen the Hebrew text.1. The fact that a portion of these proverbs 
has been preserved in the Talmud is clear proof of their having 
been written in Hebrew;” but the Hebrew text was lost, per- 
haps because people believed it to have been tampered with, and 
it is only recently that a considerable part of it (xxxix. 15—xlix. 
11, and some other fragments) has been recovered, so that now 


1 Fertur et Panaretos [ravdperos = virtuous] Jesu filit Sirach liber et 
alius pseudepigraphus, qui Sapientia Salomonis inscribitur. Quorum 
priorem hebraicum reperi; non “ Ecclesiasticum,” ut apud Latinos, sed 
“ Parabolas” prenotatum. 

* The proverbs in the Talmud have been collected and edited by De- 
litzsch: Zur Geschichte der jiidischen Poesie, Leipzig, 1836. 


354 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


we have the Book of Sirach in Hebrew, with the exception of 
about fifteen chapters and some shorter passages.t| The Latin 
texts of the Itala and the Vulgate are based not upon the 
Hebrew, but upon the Greek, as appears from the retention of 
many Greek words, such as agonizari, thesauriare, eucharis, 
acharis, etc. Saint Jerome did not make a Latin translation 
of this work, probably because the text of the Septuagint and 
the Itala pleased him better than the Hebrew. The Septua- 
gint text has suffered in course of time; the Itala was trans- 
lated from an earlier and more correct version. 

4. Author. The book was composed in Hebrew about the 
year 190 by Jesus, son of Sirach, a native of Jerusalem. His 
grandson and namesake made a very free translation of it into 
Greek about the year 130, in Egypt. 


The date may be ascertained in the following way: The author’s 
grandson says in his preface that in the thirty-eighth year, in the reign 
of Ptolemy Euergetes, he came to Egypt, found that the Jews there had 
a valuable literature, and determined to add to it a translation of his 
grandfather’s book. The thirty-eighth year may refer either to the 
grandson’s age or to the king’s reign. Two kings bore the name Euer- 


i “The original Hebrew of a portion of Ecclesiasticus [xxxix. 15- 
xlix. 11] together with the early versions and an English translation 

. edited by Cowley and Neubauer,” Oxford, 1897. The other portions 
have also been published. Cf. Schechter, “The Wisdom of Ben Sira, 
portions of the Book Ecclesiasticus from Hebrew Manuscripts,” Cam- 
bridge, 1899. The fragments were jound in Cairo. Professor Margo- 
liouth tried to prove that these discoveries were not parts of a Hebrew 
original, but of a translation made in the eleventh century. His theory 
was, however, contradicted and disproved by Ed. Kénig, in his Orig- 
inalitit des neulich entdeckten hebrdischen Sirachtextes, Frbg. i. B., 
1899. The Hebrew text, as far as it has been discovered at present, has 
been edited with notes and vocabulary by H. L. Strack (Lpz., 1903, VI, 
and 74 pages). It has also been edited with a translation and critical 
notes by N. Peters, Frbg., 1902, who brought out in 1905 what is in- 
tended to be a supplement to our editions of the Hebrew Bible: Liber 
Jesu filii Sirach hebraice secundum codices nuper repertos vocalibus 
adornatus addita versione latina cum glossario hebraico-latino. Hdidit 
Norbertus Peters,’ Frib. The Hebrew text with a Latin translation 
may be found also at the beginning of Knabenbauer’s “ Commentary on 
Sirach.” The fragments show that the Greek translation is very free. 
Like Schechter (“‘ The Wisdom of Ben Sira ”’), Knabenbauer draws atten- 
tion to the fact that Sirach’s numerous allusions to all parts of the 
book of Psalms make it almost impossible for us to accept the theory 
of Machabeean Psalms. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 355 


getes, Ptolemy III, 247-222, and Ptolemy VII, also called Physcon, who 
ruled at first conjointly with his brother Ptolemy Philometor (170-145) 
and afterwards alone (145-117). A further clue is given us by the 
mention of Simon, the high priest, the son of Onias, of whom the author 
speaks in a way (1. 1-21) that shows he must have known him per- 
sonally. There were two high priests named Simon, each being a son of 
Onias. Simon I was high priest, 310-291; Simon II., 219-199. The 
references in Ecclesiasticus are probably not to Ptolemy III Euergetes, 
nor to the first Simon, but to Ptolemy VII Euergetes and the second 
Simon. Now Ptolemy VII reigned over thirty-eight years, and the 
thirty-eighth year refers, not to the grandson’s age, but to the king’s 
reign, 1.e. 132 B.c. It is possible, however, that it may mean the thirty- 
eighth year after the book was composed in Hebrew. 

In the third and second centuries B.c. Hebrew was no longer com- 
monly spoken, but it was known and used by the educated classes.' 


43. Tur Book oF WISDOM 


(Deuterocanonical, 19 chapters) 


1. By wisdom (chokma) the Old Testament understands the 
insight and knowledge how to act aright, that a man may obtain 
by studying divine revelations and especially Holy Scripture 
(cf. p. 292). This is the wisdom with which the book of that 
name deals. It is an admonition supposed to be addressed by 
King Solomon to the rulers of the earth, whom he urges to 
cultivate a religious mode of life, rather than to follow the prin- 
ciples of false wisdom. In this book there is an unmistakable 
reference on the part of the Holy Ghost to the New Testament 
revelation, as the author (1) speaks of a just man as the Son 
of God, who is hated by the wicked and condemned to a shameful 
death (chap. ii.); (2) lays stress on the merit of a pure and 
perfectly temperate life (chap. ii., iv.) ; and (3) alludes to ever- 
lasting rewards and punishments in far plainer terms than the 
earlier sacred writers (e. g. iv. 19; v. 16). 

2. Divisions. Four sections may be distinguished: (@) i-v.: 
General admonition to wisdom: life passed in accordance with the 


* Some people have doubted whether the Jews in Egypt during the 
third and second centuries B.C. were numerous enough to have developed 
a Greco-Jewish literature. Schtirer draws attention to an inscription 
from Shedia near Alexandria, which proves that a number of syna- 
gogues existed in Egypt in the third century. Of. Revue biblique, 1898, 
> 58, 


3856 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


faith secures the advantages of quiet and peace on earth, and of 
safety at the judgment. (b) vi-ix.: As the mighty must antici- 
pate a stricter examination than others, they should follow Solo- 
mon’s example, and strive to obtain wisdom, and pray to God 
for it. (¢) x.—xix.: The advantages of wisdom are shown from 
history, as recorded in Holy Scripture. (d) xiii.-xy.: Episode; 
condemnation of idolatry as a contrast to wisdom. 

i.—iii., the wicked, who mock the righteous, bring ruin upon themselves. 
iv., v., the virtuous enjoy inward peace and are justified at the judg- 
ment. vi., ye rulers, promote the service of God! a strict trial awaits 
you. vil-ix., seek, ike Solomon, true wisdom, that is most precious 
and contains sweet fruits; pray, as I do, for wisdom. x.—xil., in every 
age God has protected the wise, and punished the wicked. xiii.—xv., how 
foolish is the idolatry of the heathen! xvi.—xix., the heathen Egyptians, 


who oppressed the servants of the true God, were grievously afflicted, 
but the Israelites found help. 


3. Language. The book was composed in Greek, though the 
author refers to Hebrew documents. Its composition in Greek 
is apparent from the purity of the language and the writer’s 
familiarity with Greek ways of thought. The frequent parallel- 
ism in the verses and the style, savoring of Hebrew, suggest his 
having used Hebrew documents. 

In i. 14 mention is made of Hades, in xvi. 11 of the river Lethe, in 
iv. 2 of the games customary among the Greeks, in xix. of ambrosia, the 
food of the gods. Some of the Hebraisms are, e. g., ix. 6, “ children of 
men,” ix. 9, ‘‘ agreeable to thy eyes.” 

The old Latin translation and the Peshitto were certainly based on a 
Greek original. 

4. The Author is unknown. At one time the book was often 
ascribed to the Jew Philo, but this theory has long been aban- 
doned, for the book is in direct antagonism to Greek philosophy, 
which Philo esteemed highly. Moreover, it is never mentioned 
in the list of his writings. The Greek title copia YoXrwpor, does 
not mean that Solomon is to be regarded as the author, but that 
the wisdom extolled in the book is found also in Solomon’s 
writings and is in harmony with the wisdom obtained by this 
king from God.1 It seems certain that the book was written by 


1 Hence Saint Jerome says (Prol. in Libr. Sal.): (liber) pseudepi- 
graphus, qui Sapientia Salomonis inscribitur. 


THE SACRED BOOKS CONSIDERED SINGLY 357 


a Jew in Egypt, as there are several allusions to that country 
(the plagues of Igypt, the passage of the Red Sea, and the 
destruction of the Egyptian army). 

5. Date. The numerous allusions to the cruelty of the ancient 
Egyptians to Israel seem to suggest that the monotheism pro- 
fessed by the author and his fellow countrymen displeased the 
authorities in Egypt, and that the Jews met with hostility in 
consequence. ‘his was the case under King Ptolemy Philopator 
(220-204).1 The book was written during his reign or not long 
after.? 


If we consider the OLD TESTAMENT as a whole, we have to acknowledge 
that among mankind from the time of Adam, Noe, Abraham and Moses, 
a community belonging particularly to God has always existed, sharply 
distinguished from the wicked, and kept firm by bonds of justice and fear. 
The members of this community have often been. hated, despised, perse- 
cuted and oppressed, but they could never be completely overcome. Wis- 
dom xix. 20, “ Thou didst magnify thy people, O Lord, and didst honor 
them, and didst not despise them, but didst assist them at all times and 
in every place.” Destruction and wickedness prevailed not only outside 
this race, but often penetrated into it. The faithful servants of God 
had a hard task to stand firm, and were often reduced to a very small 
number, and these few were frequently devoid of influence, wealth and 
power. Beset both from without and from within they besought God’s 
intervention, God’s help and redemption, and they awaited it not merely 
for themselves, but for all mankind, for this was the prospect presented to 
them in promises and types. Redemption came through JESUS CHRIST. 
He transformed the little community into one embracing the whole 
world, and in order to facilitate the spread of Christianity God in His 
providence had caused the Roman Empire to extend over the world. Now 
all mankind possesses the blessing of redemption in the great kingdom 
of Christ, where mercy and love reign supreme. John i. 17, “the law 
was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Before 
Christ came man was a servant, now he is a son. These are the tidings 
conveyed in the NEw TESTAMENT. 

1 Josephus Flavius, Contra Apion, II, 5. The apocryphal third Book 
of Machabees, generally to be found at the end of editions of the Septua- 
gint, gives a similar account. 

* Lagrange gives the date 145-150 B.c. That date harmonizes with 
the author’s knowledge of Greco-Alexandrian philosophy, in opposition 
to which he sets the wisdom derived from revelation. 


THE BO 0 KS OTe Ter ae Ne Davy, 
TESTAMENT 


1. CLASSIFICATION 


HE New Testament Canon may be divided into three parts: 
historical, didactic and prophetic. The historical part com- 
prises the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles; the didactic 
the Epistles written by the apostles, viz. fourteen by Saint Paul 
(Romans, first and second Corinthians, first and second 'Thessa- 
lonians, Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, Galatians, Philemon, 
first and second Timothy, Titus, Hebrews), and seven by other 
apostles (first and second Peter, first, second and third John, 
James, Jude). The only prophetic book of the New Testament 
is the Apocalypse of Saint John. There are in all twenty-seven 
sacred books. 


FIRST SECTION 


HISTORICAL BOOKS 
A. THE GOSPELS 
2. THr GOSPELS IN GENERAL 


1. Name. The early Christians gave the name EvaryyéXuor, 
good tidings, the account of hfe everlasting, forfeited through 
Adam and restored through Christ. The Evangelium, or Gospel, 
is therefore the news of the Redemption and the Redeemer, 
which the apostles were commissioned by Christ to make known 
in all parts of the world. As all our Lord’s teaching was oral, 
they understood by the gospel oral instruction. The first mean- 
ing of the word gospel was therefore the oral preaching of the 
apostles, and as, with reference to its contents, this preaching 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT = 359 


was unanimous, people knew originally of only one gospel. When 
the preaching of some of the apostles was written down, men 
began to speak of “ gospels,” but the various gospels were re- 
garded only as various versions of the same good tidings, viz. 
of the Redemption by Jesus Christ. One original gospel un- 
derlies the four canonical gospels, the first three of which 
resemble one another closely, while the fourth supplements 
them. Like the written gospels, all the books of the New 
Testament are based upon already given oral teaching concern- 
ing salvation. 

2. Order of the Books. The usual arrangement of the 
gospels, in which Matthew always stands first, then Mark and 
Luke, and lastly John, occurs in all old translations and in 
every list of the canonical books, and in most Greek manu- 
scripts. Saint Matthew’s Gospel was always believed to be the 
first, and Saint John’s the latest, in order of composition, so 
that the gospels are placed not in any order of merit, but 
according to their age. 

3. Origin. In examining the gospels and all Holy Scrip- 
ture, D. Fr. Strauss and his followers, and especially Renan, 
start from the assumption that there are no such things as 
miracles or prophecies, and that therefore all accounts of such 
are either intentional fictions, or legends, which in course of 
time have grown up, as an unhistorical accretion, round an 
historical fact. It is often asserted that the gospels, as we 
know them, cannot have originated in the first century. The 
apostles or their pupils may have perhaps written down a few 
statements for their own use, and have left these to their fol- 
lowers, but all kinds of additions had been made before these 
records passed into use among Christians.t. F. Chr. Baur (ob. 
1860) was willing to believe that intentional falsification and 
actual deception had been practiced. At the present time the 
Rationalists regard the growth of myths as an important factor. 
Harnack is of opinion that Christ’s personality made so great 
an impression upon His disciples, and awakened such enthu- 
siasm in them, that they imputed to him fictitious miracles 


* Modern criticism is busily engaged in discovering such “ additions,” 
“ misunderstandings ” and “ interpolations ” in almost every chapter. 


360 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and prophecies. Jiilicher, B. Weiss, Pfleiderer and others pro- 
fess similar views. 

All these assertions may be disproved (a) by internal evi- 
dence, i. e. by the nature of the gospels; (b) by external evidence, 
i.e. by documents from the earliest times of Christianity; (c) 
by the history of the text; (d) by the history of the earliest 
Christian communities. 

(a) Internal Evidence. The Greek of the gospels, abounding 
in Hebraisms, suggests that they were the work of Greek-speak- 
ing Jews; the intimate acquaintance displayed with the geog- 
raphy of the Holy Land indicates that the writers were natives 
of Palestine; their knowledge of the history of Palestine in the 
first century shows that they were contemporaries of Christ and 
the apostles. 


Linguistic evidence. Hebrew is on the whole a poor language, and 
this poverty reveals itself in the Greek New Testament. If Greek writers 
in the second century had composed the gospels, they would have used 
many expressions drawn from the wealth of the Greek vocabulary, where 
the meager Hebrew makes the meaning obscure. For instance, instead 
of “to see life,” they would have said “to enjoy life”; instead of “ love 
or hate a master,” they would have said “prefer”; where we find 
“heart,” they would often have written “ conscience”; and where we 
read “ flesh,” they would have put ‘‘ body.” Only two authors of books 
in the New Testament have a less Hebrew and more Greek coloring; 
they are Saint Paul and Saint Luke, both of them born outside Palestine. 

Geographical evidence. After the year 70 A.bD. Palestine was practi- 
eally a wilderness. Fifty towns and nearly one thousand other places 
were completely destroyed. A writer living a century later would not 
have been able to give with so much accuracy the names of so many 
places, their distances and other geographical data. 

Historical evidence. Four kings named Herod are mentioned in the 
New Testament: Herod I, the Great; Herod Antipas; Herod Agrippa I, 
and Herod Agrippa II. Nowhere in the gospels, or in the New Testa- 
ment as a whole, is there any mistake in the history of these rulers. It 
would have been impossible for a writer of not much education, and 
living a century later, to describe the events of their reigns so correctly 
as is done in the New Testament. After the death of Herod the Great, 
Palestine was divided into tetrarchies. The evangelists know this. In 
Luke iii. we hear not of the tetrarch Archelaus, but of the procurator 
Pontius Pilate; the author knows therefore that Archelaus was deposed, 
a fact which a later writer might hardly have remembered. Salome’s 
dance after the banquet might cause surprise, as in the Holy Land 
women were excluded from such festivities, but just at that time dances 
were common at the conclusion of a meal, as we learn from Suetonius 
(Caligula, ec. 57; Nero, ce. 54). Herod and his courtiers belonged to 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 361 


the “best”? Roman society. In the gospels the inhabitants of Palestine, 
the relation borne by the Jews to the Samaritans, and the Jewish sects 
are depicted exactly, as we know from other sources, as they were in the 
first century. An author writing a hundred years after the time of our 
Lord would certainly have blundered. The tribute in the Temple was 
at that time still required to be paid in Jewish coinage, although Greek 
and Roman money was current all over the country. <A later author 
would not have been likely to know this. 

In Matt. xx. 2, a denarius is mentioned as the pay of a day laborer. 
In the time of Augustus this was the ordinary sum, but later the value 
of money decreased until in 300 A.p. 25 denarii were a day’s wages. 

‘Hug expresses himself in similar terms on the subject of this inter- 
nal evidence; he asks if any one unexpectedly discovered the historical 
books of the New Testament without previously knowing anything about 
them, and if, being equipped with the necessary training, he opened them, 
what opinion would he form of their origin, age and authorship? He 
would say: ‘“ They are written in Greek, in fact in a degenerate sort of 
Greek that is very suggestive of Hebrew. We seem forced to think that 
the authors were Greek-speaking Jews. They are written with no regard 
to elegance of style; the authors must have been common people, who 
show no sign of education or literary training beyond having read some 
Jewish books. The Jewish State is everywhere represented as still ex- 
isting. The story is told in such a way as to prove the authors to have 
seen and heard the things that they record. ... Throughout we can 
perceive a very precise knowledge of facts and perfect familiarity with 
the period to which the life of Christ belongs; such knowledge can be 
expected only of contemporaries. . .. The more we examine the gospel 
story in detail, the more do we find revealed what we know from other 
sources respecting the character of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Samari- 
tans, and the Roman system of farming taxes, with all its attendant op- 
pression. Reference is made to Greek and Roman coins as well as to 
early Jewish money.” 


(b) Haternal Evidence. The assertion that no proof of the 
existence of the gospels before the year 150 can be found is 
now seldom heard. It is acknowledged that they must have been 
written, in the form in which we have them, before the year 110.* 
Ignatius, Polycarp and other apostolic fathers not only quote 
passages from the gospels,? but Justin Martyr, in his first 
“ Apology,” * written about 150, refers expressly (chapter 67) 

? Jiilicher supposes that Christ’s words and deeds were handed down 
orally between the years 30 and 60; that the synoptic gospels were 
written between 60 and 100; the fourth gospel is not the work of an 
eyewitness, but was composed after 100 A.p., in accordance with a defi- 
nite design. 

? For details, see the separate gospels. 


3 J. A. Cramer tries to show that various extraneous additions have 
been made to this apology, and that especially chapter 67 is net genu- 


362 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


to the “memoirs of the apostles, that are called gospels,” and 


states that they were read aloud regularly at public worship. 
According to this author, therefore, the Christians used these 
gospels constantly, and knew their contents well, so that it 
would have been impossible to alter and falsify them, or to set 
new or forged gospels in circulation. 

Not long ago the “ Apology ” of a Greek philosopher named 
Aristides was discovered.t. According to Eusebius (Hist. Hecl., 
IV, ui. 3, Chron. ad ann. 2140), this “ Apology ” was dedicated 
to the Emperor Hadrian (117-138), but most likely it was to his 
successor Antoninus Pius (138-161). In it (II, 6, 7) Aristides 
writes thus: “Jesus the Messias is called the Son of the Most 
High God, and it is said that He came down from heaven 
through the Holy Ghost, took and put on flesh from a Hebrew 
maiden, and the Son of God dwelt in the daughter of man. This 
is taught in what they [the Christians] term the Gospel, which 
was preached not long ago, and if you read tt, you will recognize 
the force that there is in it.” 

Tatian’s Harmony of the Gospels, called dsatecodpar, is a 
proof that in 170 the four gospels not only existed, but had long 
been recognized as sacred books.? Still older is the Syriac trans- 
lation of the gospels contained in the Lewis Codex, that was 
discovered in 1892 (supra, p. 245). 

(c) History of the Text. The oldest texts of the Bible that 
have come down to us, Greek, Latin, Syriac, etc., all show un- 
mistakable traces of being based upon older documents, some 
of which must have been earlier than the second century. 
Tischendorf has proved this in his work: Wann wurden unsere 
Evangelien verfasst? Leipzig, fourth edition, 1880. 

(d) The Earliest Communities. At the beginning of the 
second century the Christians were not isolated individuals, left 
to look after themselves, but they lived in well-organized commu- 


ine. Even if this were the case, it would still be true that Justin men- 
tions facts in our Lord’s life recorded by the synoptic writers, and that 
he speaks of the Logos in terms suggestive of Saint John. 

* Seeberg is of opinion that this “‘ Apology ” was not written until 
140, and was dedicated therefore to Antoninus Pius. 

* Ciasea, Hvangeliorum harmonie arabice et latine, Rome, 1888. See 
p. 210. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 363 


nities, under rules and teachers, who protected them from all 
dangers to their faith. This appears from the epistles of the 
apostles, which are universally received as genuine, and from the 
writings of the Apostolic Fathers. According to these docu- 
ments, innovations in matters affecting the faith were regarded 
with suspicion and accepted with the greatest caution among the 
Christian communities. Forged epistles and forged gospels could 
not find admission or credence among them. Marcion, who 
wished to alter Saint Luke’s Gospel in 142, met with the keenest 
opposition, as we learn from Tertullian’s work Adv. Marcion. 


In answer to this testimony nothing can be alleged against the histori- 
cal character of the gospels, except that, “at the present time, the accounts 
of our Lord’s miracles are not adapted to secure for Him any special 
importance, as all depends upon what He taught rather than upon what 
He did. The miracles therefore, as owing their origin merely to the 
‘enthusiasm’ of the disciples, would have to be eliminated from the 
gospels (Harnack). In particular the virgin birth of Christ, the inter- 
vention of angels during His childhood, the Temptation, all the miracles 
of His active life, and the Resurrection . . . must be regarded as late 
interpolations in the account of His presumably Messianic work.” There 
is, however, no proof at all that the miracles are fictitious. ~ 


4. The accounts of the four evangelists may best be harmon- 
ized, and a lifelike picture of our Saviour can best be produced, 
if we take as our basis the fourth gospel and four paschal festi- 
vals during His public life (John 11. 18; v. 1; vi. 4; x1. 55), 
and fit into this framework first Saint Luke’s account, — for he 
says (i. 1) that he states events in chronological order, — and 
then those of Saint Matthew and Saint Mark. Saint Matthew 
often departs from the chronological order, for he had another 
object in writing (see page 365). 

Both in ancient and modern times attempts have been made to show 
that the public life of Christ lasted only one year.’ 


Reasons for this theory, (1) In Isaias’ prophecy, Ixi. 2, one year and 
one day are mentioned. The prophet, speaking as a type of the Messias, 


1 J. van Bebber. His views were accepted fully by J. E. Belser. E. 
Nag] showed that no tradition from apostolic times exists, but that from 
Holy Scripture it is extremely probable that our Lord’s active life 
lasted three years. lL. Fendt believes that the active life lasted only one 
year, but he does not state this as a definite conclusion. J. B. Zellinger 
thinks that it must be assumed to have lasted two years. 


364 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


says: “He hath sent me... to proclaim the acceptable year of the 
Lord [reference to the year of Jubilee] and the day of vengeance [day 
of judgment].” In Luke iv. 19 our Lord quotes this passage and applies 
it to Himself. He says (John viii. 56): “ Abraham .. . rejoiced that 
he might see my day.” (John xi. 9): “ Are there not twelve hours of 
the day?” (John ix. 4): “I must work . . . whilst it is day.” Caiphas 
is spoken of as “the high priest that year” (John xi. 49), i.e. the year 
of our Lord’s active life. 

In support of this theory it is said that we hear of only two Paschs in 
our Lord’s public life (John ii. 13 and xi. 55). In John v. i., where we 
read: “ After these things was a festival day of the Jews, and Jesus went 
up to Jerusalem,” the festival may have been Purim or Pentecost. In 
John vi. 4 the words 76 macxa are believed to be an interpolation. These 
assumptions are not, however, well founded. (1) In John vy. 1 we must 
understand the Pasch, because shortly before (iv. 35) we read that there 
were still four months to harvest, which began with the Pasch. The 
words 7d macxa are found in John vi..4 in all old manuscripts and trans- 
lations, and the Codex Sin. Syr. that belongs to the first half of the 
second century has “ the feast of the unleavened ” in this place. 

(2) If the literal meaning of “ year” or “day” is to be pressed, we 
may with equal right refer to our Lord’s words in Luke xiii. 7: “ For 
these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree,” i.e. on the people 
of Israel. Cf. also Luke xiii. 32: “to-day and to-morrow and the third 
day.” 

(3) It seems impossible that all the events recorded in the four gospels 
took place in one year. The apostles must have been gradually led to 
understand the dignity of our Lord Himself and His kingdom. He often 
complained of the weakness of their faith and the dullness of their minds, 
and if He had been crucified so soon after His first appearance, His dis- 
ciples would probably have lost faith in Him; the world would not have 
been transformed and Judaism and heathendom overthrown by their 
preaching. If only one gospel existed, it might be possible to regard 
one year as covering the whole of our Lord’s active life, but taking 
them collectively, they contain so much that a longer period is plainly 
necessary. 

(4) Knabenbauer aptly refers to our Lord’s words in Matt. xxiii. 37: 
* Jerusalem, ... how often would I have gathered together thy chil- 
dren, ... and thou wouldest not?” According to Belser our Lord 
spent no more than eight days in all at Jerusalem. 

An appeal is made sometimes to the views of early Christian writers. 
Belser says: “The Fathers and authors of the ancient Church almost 
without exception believe that Christ’s activity lasted only one year.” 
This opinion, however, was by no means universal. It was received by 
the followers of Valentinus, but they were opposed by Irenzeus, one of the 
earliest witnesses, being a pupil of Polyearp, Saint John’s disciple (Iren., 
Adv. Her., U1, xxii. 3). Theodoretus of Cyrus (in Dan. ix.) refers to the 
Messianic prophecy of the seventy weeks of years, after which redemption 
is to come. The allusion to the half week of years, which led up to the 

tedeemer’s death, is decisive in favor of our Lord’s active life having 
lasted three and a half years. “ From Saint John’s Gospel it appears 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT — 365 


that the Lord spent three years and a half in preaching, in instructing 
the disciples and strengthening their faith by miracles, and then He 
suffered.” Eusebius (Demonstr. Hv. Lib., 8) appeals to “the tradition 
that the period of teaching and miracles in our Redeemer’s life lasted 
three and a half years, for this is half a week of years, and this is 
apparent especially in Saint John’s Gospel.” 


The Gospel according to Saint Matthew 
(28 chapters) 


3. CONTENTS, PURPOSE AND ARRANGEMENT 


The first volume contains three parts: (1) Our Lord’s child- 
hood, (2) His life and miracles in Galilee, (38) His Passion and 
Death. 


In the introduction (chapter i., ii.) an account is given of the child- 
hood of Christ (Genealogy, the Magi, Flight into Egypt, Massacre of 
the Innocents, Return). The author then passes on to Christ’s public 
life. (ii1.—xviii.), the preparation for which were His baptism and temp- 
tation (ili.). He describes Christ’s first appearance in public, his pre- 
liminary choice of apostles (iv.), and the Sermon on the Mount (v.—vii.). 
Some miracles of healing, and the raising of Jairus’ daughter are re- 
corded (viii., ix.), and the experimental sending out of the apostles (x.). 

Chapters xi. and xii. deal with Christ’s relations with John the Baptist 
and with the Pharisees, chapter xiil. contains parables about the new 
kingdom of God. The next three chapters, xiv.—xvi., contain the instruc- 
tions given to the apostles, who are to be the rulers of the new Mes- 
sianic kingdom (feeding of five thousand, walking on the sea, eating 
with unwashed hands, the Chanaanite woman, miracles of healing, second 
feeding of a multitude, request for a sign, Saint Peter’s confession). 
In chapters xvii. and xviii. Christ is gradually preparing the disciples for 
the necessity of His death (prophecy regarding it, transfiguration, the 
lunatic boy, second prophecy of his death, teaching about humility and 
scandal). The history of Christ’s sufferings now begins. Chapters xix. 
and xx., journey to Judea and the teaching given on the way (marriage, 
the rich young man, workers in the vineyard, third prophecy of the passion, 
Salome’s request). Chapters xxi.-xxv., entry into Jerusalem, dispute with 
the Pharisees, parables containing warnings (wise and foolish virgins, 
talents), teaching concerning the judgment. The last three chapters 
(xxvi.-xxviil.) record the institution of the Eucharist, the Passion, 
Death and Resurrection of Christ. 


In the arrangement of his materials the evangelist had a 
particular aim in view, viz. to adapt his book to serve Jews 
by birth as proof of Christ’s being the Messias. It is obviously 


366 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


intended for people well acquainted with the Old Testament, and 
for this reason it refers frequently to the Old Testament prophe- 
cies and types, pointing out how they have been fulfilled in 
Christ.t| The author has to some extent sacrificed chronological 
order to his desire to display Christ as the Messias, long foretold 
but rejected by the ruling class among the Jews. He says very 
little about our Lord’s work in Judea, where the influence of the 
Synedrium prevented Him from being welcomed, and where He 
found few followers. But we have a full account of His successful 
Messianic activity in Galilee, which had been foretold by Isaias, ix. 
1, ete. This was insulting to the capital and the Temple, and to 
the Jewish priesthood, which, being blinded by pride, anticipated 
not a poor but a politically powerful Messias, who should estab- 
lish the throne of David in Jerusalem. To shame the unbelief 
of these men the Messias withdrew almost completely from the 
capital, and only went thither to die, on the throne of the Cross. 
Most of His followers were Galileans; the writer of the gospel 
had probably preached in Galilee, and composed it primarily for 
Galileans. Traditon declares the author to have been Saint 
Matthew the apostle. 


4, Saint MATTHEW THE APOSTLE 


Before our Saviour took him as a companion, Matthew had 
been a tax collector at Capharnaum on the Lake of Genesareth, 
and was probably very wealthy (Luke v. 27). His name is the 
seventh in the lists of apostles given in Mark i. and Luke vi., 
but it is the eighth in the first gospel (x.), as there that of Saint 
Thomas precedes it. His call is recorded in the first three 
gospels (Matt. ix., Mark u., Luke v.), but in Mark and Luke 
the name of the man called is given as Levi, son of Alpheus, 
whilst it is given as Matthew only in the first. As all the cir- 
cumstances are identical in the three accounts, we cannot doubt 
that Matthew is the same person as Levi. After his call, in his 
joy and gratitude, Levi may have changed his name to Matthew 
(i.e. probably “ gift of God”). It was not unusual for Jews to 


* Of. i. 23-41. 15, 23-iv. 14—-viii. 17-xiii. 14. Especially in the account 
of the Passion, xxi. 4—xxvi. 24, 54, 56—-xxvii. 9, 35. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT = 36? 


change their names. The New Testament tells us nothing as 
to his later history. According to tradition he was engaged 
for twelve years in preaching the gospel to his countrymen in 
Judea,' and then went on to the Gentiles. He is believed to 
have been particularly active in Ethiopia, as the Roman Breviary 
states; and he is said to have suffered martyrdom there.? 


5. AUTHENTICITY OF THE GOSPEL 


If traces of the author be sought in the gospel itself (1n- 
ternal evidence), they will be found to be very slight and not 
perfectly certain. It is striking that in the list of apostles in 
chapter x. the humiliating designation of “ publican” follows 
the name of Matthew; also that in this list Matthew is the 
eighth name, whereas it is the seventh in Mark and Luke. 
Moreover, Mark and Luke both record the great feast given to 
our Lord and His friends by the publican after his call, whereas 
in the first gospel the feast is mentioned only incidentally, and 
the giver of it is not named. The inference is that the writer 
of the gospel put himself in the background from motives of 
humility and modesty. 

External evidence is much stronger. 

(a) Papias (75-150), a disciple of Saint John the Apostle, 
and bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, says that Matthew wrote 
a history of Christ in Hebrew: Mar@atos pev otv éBpaidz 
diarexT@ TA AdyLa TOD KUplou ouVEyparraTo, Hpunvevce Sé avTa 
@s HV SuvaTos ExacTos.® 


(b) In the same way Irenzus (Adv. Her., III, 1).* Clement 


1 EKuseb., Hist. Eccl., V, 18. 

* By Ethiopia we should probably understand a district in what is 
now Armenia. 

3 EKuseb., Hist. Hecl., III, 39. The work of Papias (Aoyiwy kupiaxay 
éfmynoes) is no longer extant. The last words of the quotation refer 
to Gentile Christian readers. 

4 Treneus, a native of Asia Minor, was a disciple of Saint John’s 
follower Polycarp. He was bishop of Lugdunum (Lyons) in Gaul from 
177 to 202, the year of his death. He says: ‘O péev 6) Mardaios &y rots 
‘EBpatos 77H lta adra&v diaréxrw ypapiy é&jveyxev evayyediov rod Iérpov kal rob 
Tlavd\ou év ‘Paun evayyedcfoudvwr Kal OewehiodvTwv Ti éxkrAnolav. Mera dé rh 
TovTwy todov Mapxos, 6 uadnrns rat épunveuris Ilérpov, kai avros ra bd Iérpov 


3868 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


of Alexandria (Strom., I, 21), Origen (ap. Euseb., Hist. Hecl., 
VI, 25) and Tertullian (De Carne Christi, 22), all mention 
Matthew as the author of a gospel. 

(c) Quotations from the first gospel occur in still earlier 
writers. Ignatius (Ad Hphes., XIX) speaks of the appearance 
of the star at the coming of the Magi, and this is recorded 
nowhere but in Matthew u. Polycarp (p., ce. 2) quotes from 
the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. v.-vii.). Justinus (Dual., 
100) says emphatically that Saint Peter’s confession (Matt. 
xvi. 16) exists in writing, thus referring to a book recognized 
as sacred. Very many quotations, chiefly from the Sermon 
on the Mount, occur in the Didache or teaching of the apostles, 
compiled in the first century (cf. supra, p. 210). 

(d) The earliest heretics, too,’ especially the gnostics Basil- 
ides and Valentine, who lived in the first half of the second 
century, quote passages from this gospel. 

(¢) It is quoted also by Celsus, a pagan and bitter opponent 
of Christianity, who lived in the second century under Marcus 
Aurelius. His attack upon Saint Matthew’s Gospel shows that 
it was recognized by the Christians as a canonical book.? 


6. OBJECTIONS 


It is only since 1824 that the authenticity of the first gospel 
has been denied. The allegations against it are: 

1. That the gospel contains what is legendary, composed 
with reference to passages in the Old Testament, e.g. 11. 1-18," 


Knpvocbueva eyypadgus huty mapédwxev, Aouxads dé, 6 dkoNovbds IlavXov, 7d bar’ éxelvouv 
Knpuoobuevov evayyeédov év BiBrlw xaTréGero (apud Kuseb., Hist. Eecl., V, x. 3). 

1 Tanta autem est circa evangelia hee firmitas, ut et ipsi heretici 
testimonium reddant eis. Ireneus, Adv. Her., III, xi. 7. 

? This writer is known only from Origen’s eight books against him. 
The conviction of the apostolic origin of this gospel must have been so 
deeply rooted in ancient times that even so malicious and crafty an 
antagonist as Celsus did not dare to deny its authenticity, but used its 
contents in his polemic against the Christians. It would have been 
both simpler and more effective to say that the sacred books of the 
Christians were not genuine, if he had been in a position to point out 
any falsification or deception in them. 

* According to one critic the story of the Magi is mythical, and has 
been developed out of a journey made in 66 B.c. by Tiridates, an Asiatic, 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT — 369 


RRO eC fee acl Ike 9), X Xvil.-9 \(Cfii Jers xxx, Gy? XVI 2, 
etc.; Zach. xi. 12), and is moreover not written in so detailed 
and vivid a style as we should expect from an eyewitness. 
These are arbitrary assertions, without any solid foundation. 
The statement that the stories are fabulous and purely imagi- 
nary could have weight only if the impossibility of miracles 
and prophecies could be proved. The other assertion, that an 
eyewitness would have written otherwise, appears groundless 
when we bear in mind the purpose and task of the evangelist, 
who did not aim at being an historian so much as at proving 
Christ to be the Messias, and who systematically kept that end 
In view. 

2. “All positive evidence of the authenticity of Saint 
Matthew’s Gospel is based upon the testimony of Papias. This 
is untrustworthy, because, according to Eusebius (J/ist. Kccl., 
III, 40), Papias was a very simple man, who probably let 
himself be deceived by heretical Jewish Christians, if they 
showed him a Hebrew book and said it was the gospel of 
Saint Matthew. Moreover, his words do not refer to our 
gospel, but only to a collection of Christ’s sayings (Adya).” } 
In answer we may say (a) that Papias’ testimony is by no 
means the only statement in support of later evidence. Irenaeus 
says more than Papias, for he implies that Matthew wrote his 
gospel in Palestine, whilst Peter and Paul, the chief apostles, 
were preaching in Rome, so that their gospels originated in 
that city. Origen never mentions Papias, and seems to have 
had no knowledge of his writings; he appeals for confirma- 
tion of his statements, not to Papias, but to tradition — ‘“‘as év 
mapaddce malar,” 

(b) It is true that Eusebius (Hist. Hecl., III, 40) describes 
Papias as odddpa opixpos tov vodv; but this unfavorable 
opinion refers not to his character and trustworthiness, but 
to his Chiliastic views. A man who was a bishop and a pupil 
of the apostles must have had common sense enough not to 


to Rome, to visit the Emperor Nero. Dio Cassius gives an account of it 
in Book Ixiii. 1-7. He came with a large escort and did homage to Nero. 
But how different are the two stories! 

1 Thus Schleiermacher, Harnack and others. 


370 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


have allowed himself simply to be deceived in a matter where 
the most superficial investigation would have sufficed to reveal 
the truth. 

(c) The word Aoya does not necessarily mean a mere col- 
lection of speeches. This is plain from Papias, who says that 
Saint Mark wrote down the words and deeds of Christ, and 
that his record! is called «vptaxoi Noyou.2 Moreover, Papias 
named his own book Aoylwv kuptaxav éEnynoes, although it 
must have contained accounts of events as well as speeches. 
Finally the Fathers of the Church even later often allude to 
Holy Scripture, and especially to the gospels, as Adyla Tod 
Kuptov,® just as we still occasionally speak of the gospels as 
the Word of God, for they contain more speeches and instruc- 
tions than records of events.* 


%. READERS 


Saint Matthew wrote his gospel primarily for Northern 
Palestine, where our Lord had been particularly active, and 
secondarily for the communities of Jewish Christians through- 
out Palestine. This may be inferred partially from the con- 
tents. The author deems it unnecessary to give his readers 
any information regarding the geography, the provincial pecu- 
liarities, the manners and customs of the Jews, although the 
other evangelists tell us a good deal on these points (e.g. 
Mark v. 41, vii. 3; Luke 1. 26, vi. 4; John ii. 6, xi. 18). 


* Corresponding to the Hebrew word dabar, which designates both 
the word and the subject-matter. Of. dibre hajjamim = chronicles. 

4 Kuseb., Hist. Lec. Lily 39. 

§ Clem. Rom., Hp. I ad Cor., 53. 

* In 1897 it was reported that Papias’ important work on the “ Say- 
ings of Jesus” had been recovered in the course of excavations in 
Egypt. This was a mistake. All that was found was one sheet of papy- 
rus measuring about 6 inches by 3% inches, and containing six phrases 
very like those recorded in the canonical gospels. It dates probably 
from the beginning of the third century and so can have nothing to do 
with Papias. The discoverers (Grenfell and Hunt) published their find 
in a little work with the title: Adyia *Inoov, “ Sayings of our Lord,” Lon- 
don, 1897 (see supra, p. 239). In 1904 the same scholars discovered some 
further Aéyea at Oxyrhynchus, which they published as “ New Sayings of 
Jesus,” London (Bibl. Zischr., 1905, pp. 176, 222). 


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THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 371 


The frequent references to the Old Testament, that have al- 
ready been mentioned, show that the writer assumed his readers 
to be well acquainted with it. In the first gospel there are 
over seventy quotations from it, more than in the other three 
together, and the quotations are not merely from the Greek, 
but they often show a special rendering of the Hebrew text 
(e.g. iv. 15, 16; cf. Is. vill. 23, ix. 1). The other evangelists 
use the Septuagint exclusively. The gospel gives altogether 
the impression of being a work intended for Jews, or rather 
Jewish Christians. External evidence adds certainty to this 
supposition. Eusebius (Hist. Hecl., III, 24) states that Saint 
Matthew, having labored long amongst his fellow countrymen 
in Palestine, determined to go to other nations, but before 
leaving the Jews, he wrote down for them his gospel, i.e. the 
tidings that he had preached regarding the Messias, to make 
what compensation he could for his absence.t Saint Jerome 
(De Vir. ILllustr., III) says that Saint Matthew, first in the 
land of the Jews, wrote the gospel of Christ for the Jews 
who had accepted the faith. Similar statements occur in the 
earlier writers: Ireneus,’ Origen,*® Tertullian, Gregory Nazian- 
zen. and John Chrysostom.* 


8. LANGUAGE 


Saint Matthew wrote his gospel in the language commonly 
spoken in Palestine at that time, viz. in the Chaldee or Aramaic 
dialect, which is called Hebrew in the New Testament. Just 
as the Targumim were necessary in the case of the Old Tes- 
tament, so an Aramaic text was indispensable when the gospel 
had to be read at public worship. This fact has been much 


1 Mardatos . . . mpdrepov ‘EBpalos knpvéas, ws Euedrey Kal €’ érépovs lévat, 
marply yhuotTy ypaph mapadods 7d Kar’ avrov evayyéhiov TO Netrov tH a’rod 
mapovaia TovTos, ap av éoTédeETO, Oia THs Ypapis avewAnpov. 

2 Adv. Her., Ill, i. 1. “ Matthew published among the Hebrews an 
evangelical work in their language. Cf. supra, p. 367. 

* According to Eusebius (Hist. Hecl., VI, xxv. 4) Origin said that this 
gospel was written for the Jewish Christians (rots dd rod "Iovdaicpot 
TigTEvoUTL ). 

‘ For the precise words of each writer see Reithmayr, Hinl. in d. 
Wire oDa. CLC, 


3872 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


questioned in recent times, especially by Protestants. Erasmus 
of Rotterdam was the first to deny it and to.pronounce the 
Greek to be the original. L. Hug is of the same opinion, es- 
pecially because Greek was well understood in Palestine. But 
all the evidence of Christian antiquity is unanimous in stating | 
that the original of Saint Matthew’s Gospel was in Hebrew.* 
Papias learnt it from John the Presbyter in Ephesus (Huseb., 
Hist. Eecl., 111, 39); Ireneus and Origen say the same (see 
supra, page 367). Eusebius gives the further information 
(Hist. Hccl., V, 10) that Pantenus, head of the school of 
catechists at Alexandria (179-212), had found the Hebrew 
original of Saint Matthew’s Gospel in India, i.e. in the eastern 
part of Arabia. Important evidence in support of the truth 
of these statements is furnished by the fact that the Jewish 
Christians certainly possessed a Hebrew gospel, called Hvange- 
lium ad Hebreos. Some of the remaining fragments of it bear 
considerable resemblance to our gospel, but it appears to have 
been shorter.?, The Hebrew original has perished, and the Church 
knows Saint Matthew’s Gospel only in Greek. No certain an- 
swer can be given to the question who translated the Hebrew 
into Greek. Ancient writers were at a loss on this subject and 
acknowledged their ignorance.* Some think that not only the 
original but also the translation ought to be ascribed to Saint 
Matthew; others say Saint Mark; and Saint James the Less, 
bishop of Jerusalem, and Saint John the Apostle might also 


1 Kaulen and Schegg are inclined to think that it was in ancient 
Hebrew, and Resch agrees with them (Gebh. u. Harnack, Texte wu. Unt., 
X, i. p. 107). Cornely believes it was in Aramaic. In the words “ri 
idia a’rwy Siadéxtw ” Irenzus is probably referring to the Aramaic dialect, 
as Eusebius by the expression ‘ rarpiw yNwrryn.” 

* We may suppose this gospel to have the first written record of the 
teaching that the apostles agreed to give in preaching salvation. <A 
tax collector would certainly be able to write well, and so he was em- 
ployed by Saint Peter and the other apostles to reduce it to writing. 
The synoptic gospels are an expansion of this teaching adapted to suit 
the various requirements of Jews, Romans and Greeks. Cf. infra, p. 390. 

’ Saint Jerome (Catalogus Script. Eccl., ¢. 3), Mattheus, qui et 
Levi, ex publicano apostolus primus in Judea propter eos, qui ex cir- 
cumcisione ecrediderant, evangelium Christi hebraicis literis verbisque 
composuit: quod quis postea in grecum transtulerit, non satis certum 
est. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 373 


be suggested as possible translators. But whoever translated 
it, it is certain that the Greek text of the first gospel has 
always been recognized in the Church as a faithful rendering 
of Saint Matthew’s record, whilst the probably shorter Hebrew 
original ceased to be regarded as canonical, for the reason that 
it had suffered alterations at the hands of heretical Jewish 
Christians. As to the date of the translation, we know that 
it was made in the time of the apostles, because the apostolic 
fathers quote the Greek text, and Papias alludes to a trans- 
lation, saying that originally each one interpreted the Hebrew 
text for himself as best he could.* 


9. PLACE AND DATE OF COMPOSITION 


From what has been said, we learn that Saint Matthew’s 
Gospel was written in the Holy Land, perhaps in Capharnaum, 
where he had been employed as a publican. With regard to 
the date, we know that, according to all ancient writers, Saint 
Matthew was the first of the Evangelists to compose his work.? 
He cannot have done so, however, until several years had 
elapsed after our Lord’s Ascension, for in xxvii. 8 he says: 
“That field was called Haceldama, that is, the field of blood, 
even to this day.” And again in xxvii. 15 (the report that 
the disciples had stolen our Lord’s body) “was spread abroad 
among the Jews even unto this day.” At the same time he 
must have written before 70 A.p., for the Jewish State is every- 
where described as still existing. To arrive at a more pre- 
cise date, we may refer to Eusebius, who says (see supra, p. 371) 
that Saint Matthew wrote before going into foreign lands to 
preach to the Gentiles. If he taught in Palestine from eight to 
fifteen years,* he may have composed his gospel soon after the 
year 40. Eusebius (Chron. a. 41) gives the year 41 as the date, 
and so do other Greek authors. 


1 Belser believes that the translation was made about the year 70. 

2 Orig. ap. Euseb., Hist. Eccl., V, 10; Eusebius himself, Hier. Catal. 
Hor Lect, C23. 

® Ancient authorities differ as much as this with regard to the dura- 
tion of his work in Palestine. 


3874 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


This does not agree with the statement made by Ireneus (Adv. Her., 
III, 1, see p. 367), who says that Saint Matthew wrote his gospel whilst 
Saint Peter and Saint Paul were preaching at Rome. If this were cor- 
rect, the date of composition would be after 60 A.bD., as Saint Paul did 
not go to Rome earlier.* 

It seems likely that when Irenzxus wrote these words, he did not in- 
tend to fix a date, but simply to state that the first gospel originated 
in the parent community in Palestine, and not like the second and third 
gospels, in Rome.? 


The Gospel According to Saint Mark 
(16 chapters) 


10. CoNTENTS AND AUTHOR 


The keynote is struck at the beginning of the book (i. 1-15), 
— Jesus Christ, the Son of God, proclaimed at His baptism, 
founds the Messianic kingdom. (1) i. 16—vui. 30, Through 
His work in Galilee Christ proves Himself to be the Messias 
and Son of God. (2) vui. 31—-xin. 37, Instructions given to 
the apostles, men chosen from among the people, to introduce 
them to their special duties. (3) xiv.—xvi., Passion, Death and 
Resurrection of Christ. (Cornely gives a similar division of the 
book.) 


More detailed examination. i. John the Baptist appears as the fore- 
runner of the Messias, foretold by the prophets; the Messias Himself, 
Jesus of Nazareth, at once comes to the Jordan for baptism. It is fol- 
lowed by His fasting and temptation, and then His Messianic activity 
begins with the call of some disciples. Healing of one possessed by a 
devil, of Peter’s mother-in-law, and of many sick persons, including a 
leper. ii. Cure of a paralytic, call of Levi, the disciples pluck ears of 
corn. iii. The man with the withered hand. Pharisees and Herodians 
oppose Jesus. Choice of the apostles. His enemies declare Him to be 
possessed. His mother and brethren. iv. Parables of the seed, the sower 
and the grain of mustard seed. Calming of a storm at sea. v. Cure of 


1 A. Schiifer and Schanz accept this date on the authority of the 
passage in Ireneus, and believe that the Jewish Christians were in 
danger, as the Epistle to the Hebrews shows. No suggestion of’ it can 
be found in the gospel, however, though the epistle is plain enough on 
the subject. 

2 Kaulen suggests that the name of Saint Paul, the Apostle of the 
Gentiles, crept into the text of Ireneus through a copyist’s error, and 
that he really mentioned only the foundation of the Church at Rome by 
Saint Peter about the year 42. Of. note on page 379, infra. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 3% 


a demoniac on the other side of the lake. Jairus’ daughter and the 
woman with the issue of blood. vi. Unsuccessful preaching in Nazareth. 
Mission of the Twelve. Herod’s alarm. Miraculous feeding of the people. 
Walking on the sea. vii. Eating with unwashed hands. Dispute with 
the Pharisees. The Chanaanite woman. Cure of a deaf mute. viii. 
Feeding of four thousand persons. Cure of a blind man. Saint Peter’s 
confession. Christ foretells His death. ix. Transfiguration. Cure of a 
boy. Strife for precedence among the disciples. x. Instruction regard- 
ing marriage. Blessing of children. The rich young man. Another 
prophecy of death. Request made by two apostles. Cure of a blind man 
in Jericho. xi. Entry into Jerusalem. Buyers and sellers in the Temple. 
xli., xii. Conflicts with the ruling parties. Allusions to the rejection 
of the Jews, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world. 
xiv. The Paschal Supper. Agony on the Mount of Olives. Seizure by 
the Jews. Denial by Peter. xv. Scourging. Crucifixion. Death and 
burial. xvi. Resurrection. Ascension into Heaven. 


Who was the author of this book? According to tradition 
it was Mark; but who was he? He is not to be found in the 
lists of the apostles, but if his work is to possess the apostolic 
authority, he must have been very closely connected with them. 
Among the assistants of the first preachers of the faith, we 
often? hear of a man named Mark or John Mark, belonging 
to a family of Levites in Jerusalem. Mark is a Roman preno- 
men that he assumed, and gradually, as he came much in con- 
tact with Latins, it took the place of his national name John, 
although the latter was not quite forgotten. His mother’s 
name was Mary (Acts xi. 12), and his uncle was Joseph, the 
Levite (Col. iv. 10), who, on account of his wonderful elo- 
quence in preaching the faith, received the name of Barnabas, 
i.e. son of consolation or prophecy; bar nebua = divinely in- 
spired speaker. Barnabas introduced his nephew to the work 
of the apostles, and about the year 46, in the company of his 
uncle and Saint Paul, Mark made a missionary journey from 
Antioch to Cyprus and thence to Asia Minor. At Perge in 
Pamphylia, however, he left them, and returned to Jerusalem, 
at which Saint Paul was very much hurt. For several years 
nothing more is recorded of him in the Acts, and we know 
nothing of his movements until in 50 we hear of him at An- 
tioch, again with Paul and Barnabas. Another missionary 

ACURA Co ocOsusill Monts. okV, 31; 54956 COL iV l Owl ly Lim ty. 21 
Philemon 24. 


3876 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


journey had to be undertaken, as they were to attend the 
council of the apostles, and Barnabas wished to take Mark 
with him; Paul would not agree to this proposal, and they 
separated in consequence. Paul, taking Silas as his com- 
panion, set out for Asia Minor, whilst Barnabas and Mark 
revisited Cyprus. Here we again lose sight of Mark. In 
Col. iv. 1 and Philemon 24, both of which epistles were writ- 
ten during Saint Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome, about 
the year 63, his presence in Rome is mentioned, and he is 
said to have the intention of visiting the east. In II Tim. iv. 
11, Timothy is commissioned to bring him with him to Rome, 
where Saint Paul then was. 

The two great gaps in Mark’s history (42-50 and 50-63) 
may be filled up most suitably in the following way: 1. In 
I Peter v. 13 Saint Peter calls Mark his son. This must 
undoubtedly mean that he had converted him to Christianity 
and baptized him. The Fathers describe Mark as Saint Peter’s 
interpreter. The question has been raised whether this desig- 
nation denotes that verbal or written assistance was given to 
Saint Peter by Mark. It is a common word and more often 
refers to oral than written explanation; hence we must not 
limit it here to the latter meaning, as some persons do. Saint 
Peter did not need an interpreter in Palestine or the sur- 
rounding countries, where Greek was spoken, but he might 
have done so where Latin prevailed, i.e. in Italy. -About the 
year 42 Saint Peter fled from Jerusalem during the perse- 
cution under Herod Agrippa (Acts xu. 17), and according to 
tradition he went to Rome; so we may suppose that Mark, 
after leaving Paul and Barnabas, went to Rome either with 
or to Saint Peter in order to help him. 

2. According to the Fathers,t Mark was the founder of the 
church and bishopric at Alexandria. He may have gone on 
thither from Cyprus about the year 54 and have remained 
there until 62, when he appointed Anianus to succeed him,? 
and went to rejoin the apostles (Col. 11. 10). The history of 


* Hieronymus (De Viris Jll., 8), Epiphanius (Her., cli. 6), Eusebius 
(Hist. Eccl., II, 16). 
* Hier.: usque ad octavum Neronis annum, 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT - 377 


the end of his life is unknown. According to tradition, he 
suffered martyrdom at Alexandria under Trajan. 


11. AUTHENTICITY 


Ecclesiastical tradition ascribes the second gospel to this 
follower of the apostles, and it is supported by testimony and 
quotations from the earliest times. Justin Martyr (c. Tryph., 
106) quotes the name “ Boanerges” from Mark ii. 17. 
Ireneus (Adv. Her., 111, x. 6) gives the beginning and end of 
this gospel.t. There is also a good deal of external evidence, 
going back to the apostolic age. 

Papias (Euseb., Hist. Hccl., III, 39) refers to still earlier 
testimony, that, namely, of John the Presbyter in Ephesus, 
and says: “ Mark, who was interpreter to Peter, wrote down 
very accurately what he stated regarding the words and deeds 
of Christ. But he did not write them in chronological order 
(ov wévrot ta&er) because he had neither heard the Lord nor 
followed Him. ... He paid particular attention to one point, 
viz. to omit nothing of what he had heard, nor to add any 
falsehood to them.” ? 

The testimony of Irenzus is given on p. 367. 

Clement of Alexandria (150-217) also refers to earlier wit- 
nesses (“the record of the elders from the beginning”) and 
says: “ When Peter was preaching in Rome his hearers went 
to Mark with the request that he would write down what was 
said, for he had long followed Peter, and remembered his 
words. After writing the gospel, he handed. it to those who — 


1 Marcus interpres et sectator Petri initium evangelice conscriptionis 
fecit sic: Initium Evangelii Jesu Christi, Filui Det, quemadmodum scrip- 
tum est. ... In fine autem Evangelui ait Marcus: et quidem Dominus 
Jesus, postquam locutus est, receptus est in celos et sedet ad dexteram 
Dei. 

* xal to0ro 6 mpeaBurepos deve * Mdpxos peév Epuevevtis Iérpov yevouevos boa 
éuvnudvevoey axpiBds &ypawev, od pévTor Taber, TA Ud Tov Xprorot 7 AexOévTa 
mpaxOévTa* ovre yap Hxovee Tov Kupiov, ore wapynkod\ovOncev atte... évds 
éro.noaro mpovoiayv Tod undev Gv HKovoe Tapadirety 7} Wevoacbal Te év avrots. (€uvy- 
pévevoeyv may refer to Mark = “what he remembered,” or to Peter = 
“what he stated.” The remark at the end seems to require the latter 
interpretation. ) 


378 .HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


had made the request, and Peter, knowing of it, neither hin- 
dered nor encouraged him” (Euseb., Hist. Hecl., VI, 14). 
Numerous other witnesses might be mentioned, but it will 
be enough to refer to Saint Jerome, who sums up all our 
traditional knowledge of this gospel in the words: “ Mark, 
the disciple and interpreter of Peter, at the request of the 
brethren in Rome, wrote a short gospel in conformity with 
what he had heard Peter say” (De Viris Illustr., ¢. vill. 9). 


Against the authenticity of this gospel, it is maintained that the 
earliest and most important testimony, that, namely, of Papias, is un- 
trustworthy, for, apart from his own character (see supra, p. 369), he 
-must have been thinking of some quite different book, and not of the second 
canonical gospel, as he says that Mark wrote not in order, whereas there 
is certainly a chronological order in our gospel, for it begins with John 
the Baptist and ends with the history of our Lord’s Passion. 

It is quite obvious, however, that Papias only meant that Mark had 
not intended or been able to give a complete account of the life of Christ, 
for he had not been an eyewitness of it. He merely wrote down from 
memory the chief events in that life, as Peter had spoken of them. 
John the Presbyter in Ephesus, who most likely ought to be identified 
with Saint John the Apostle, and who certainly was well acquainted 
with the history of Christ, detected many omissions in the work. Our 
Lord’s words were not fully reported, and in the story of His life events 
are left out to which Peter had not alluded in his discourses. The in- 
completeness of this gospel was one reason why Saint John in his old 
age determined to write a gospel himself to supplement the others. 


12. PLAcE oF COMPOSITION AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION 


The quotations already made prove incontestably that Saint 
Mark wrote his gospel in Rome at the request of the faithful, 
who wished to possess in writing what Saint Peter had 
preached. Confirmation of these facts may be derived from 
internal evidence. (1) Saint Mark is fond of explaining He- 
brew words by giving the Greek equivalents, e.g. v. 41, xv. 22, 
34, 42. In the same way he adds remarks concerning Jewish 
customs; e.g. v. 41, vu. 3, xiv. 12, xv. 22, 34, 42. These 
things suggest that he is writing for people who are not Jews 
and who live far from Palestine. (2) The occurrence of many 
Latin words in a Greek form, such as mpattwp.ov, khvoos, 
oTeKovAaTwp, KevTupiov (Matthew and Luke read éxatrdvtapyos), 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT = 379 


KodpavTns (== quadrans), etc., points to Latin being the usual 
language of the readers. (3)-Some passages refer directly to 
Rome, especially xv. 21; cf. Romans xvi. 13. If it be asked 
why Mark, writing for the Romans, did not use the Latin 
language, we may reply that he was obliged to use the lan- 
guage of his master; St. Peter preached in Greek, and could 
not have approved of the written gospel unless he had under- 
stood it thoroughly himself. “ Peter’s interpreter ” would prob- 
ably take care that a translation was supplied. 

That Saint Peter took some share in the work is also ap- 
parent from the contents. (1) The events are related as by 
an eyewitness; cf. e.g. 1. 29 with Matthew. vill. 14 and Luke 
iv. 38. (2) There are more references to Saint Peter and his 
family in the second gospel than in the others. (3) Though 
other events are recorded very briefly by Saint Mark, he gives 
the most detailed account of Saint Peter’s denial, but he passes 
over Saint Peter’s special commission. (4) In Acts 1. 21, 
before the election of Matthias, Saint Peter says that they 
must choose a man who had been an eyewitness of our Lord’s 
life, from the time of His baptism to that of His Ascension. 
These are the events with which the second gospel begins and 
ends. 


13. DATE OF COMPOSITION 


This gospel must have been written some time after our 
Lord’s Ascension, as in the last verse (xvi. 20) we read: “ They 
going forth preached everywhere.” ‘The apostles had betaken 
themselves to the Gentiles, thus fulfilling the command to go 
and “teach all nations” (Matt. xxvii. 19). It is generally 
believed that Saint Mark did not write earher than 67 or even 
70 a.p.2 This theory is based upon a passage in Ireneus, who, 
after speaking of Saint Matthew, adds:* “ After the departure 
of Peter and Paul, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, 
who had written down what had been preached by Peter, trans- 


* Ephrem the Syrian says that the gospel was composed in Latin. 

* A. Schifer thinks that the gospel was written in 66 and published 
in 67. 

5’ Adv. Her., III, 1; Euseb., Hist. Eccl., V, 10. See p. 367. 


3880 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


mitted it to us.” The two apostles suffered martyrdom in 
Rome in the year 67. The gospel cannot well have been 
written later than 70, because the evangelist records Christ’s 
prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem without any 
comment (Mark xiii. 2). 

However, it is not unlikely that the date of composition was 
much earlier. In the Canon this gospel generally stood second, 
so that in the ancient Church it must have been considered 
older than that of Saint Luke. Now we know that Saint Luke 
wrote between 61 and 63. Further, from the quotations given 
supra, on p. 877% (authenticity from Clement of Alexandria and 
Saint Jerome), we must infer that the gospel existed during the 
lifetime of Saint Peter, who gave his sanction to it. We may 
even suppose that the faithful in Rome desired to have his 
discourses recorded in writing, on the occasion of his leaving 
them at the end of his first sojourn in that city. The sub- 
scriptions in the manuscripts generally mention the tenth year 
after our Lord’s Ascension as the date of the composition of 
this gospel. If these indications be accepted, we may believe 
it to have been written between 42 and 50. The words of 
Ireneus may mean that after the apostles’ death Mark pub- 
lished the gospel outside as well as inside Rome. It is, how- 
ever, more probable that the word é€od0s denotes not the death 
of the two apostles, but their departure from Jerusalem.” 


1 See Reithmayr, p. 386. Kaulen (Hinl., IlI, 50) suggests 42-44 as the 
date. 

* €fo50s means “ departure,” hardly ever “ death,” as will be seen in 
referring to a lexicon. The only exception seems to be If Peter i. 15. If 
this be borne in mind, what Ireneus means is: “ Whilst all the apostles 
were still in Palestine, Matthew wrote the first gospel in the Hebrew 
language, because he had long been working amongst the Hebrews. 
Peter and Paul displayed their greatest energy outside Palestine, espe- 
cially in Rome. When they had left Palestine, their written gospels 
were composed, namely Peter’s through the instrumentality of Mark, 
and Paul’s through that of Luke in Rome.” Knabenbauer (Comm. in 
Luc., p. 9) thinks that éo50s does not mean the death or martyrdom of 
the two apostles. Cornely (Jntrod., III, 76) is of the same opinion. 
Kaulen (Hinl., III, 51) proposes to read éxdoow instead of éfod5ov, but in 
this context it would be difficult to assign a suitable meaning to it. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT © 381 


14. RELATION TO MATTHEW AND LUKE 


Saint Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of all. It resembles 
Saint Luke’s in many respects, but still more Saint Matthew’s ; 
in fact the first two gospels contain several passages that are 
almost word for word the same. This uniformity cannot be 
accidental, and it is generally assumed that one of the evange- 
lists used the work of the other. It is more probable that 
Saint Mark used Saint Matthew’s than the reverse. For, as 
we have seen, Saint Matthew left Palestine soon after 40 a. D., 
when it is certain that Saint Mark’s Gospel did not yet exist. 
On the other hand Saint Mark, being a native of Jerusalem, 
must have very early become acquainted with Saint Matthew’s 
Gospel, written for use in Palestine, and he may very probably 
have taken a copy of it with him to Rome. Even if the gospel 
of Saint Matthew at that time existed only in Hebrew, it may 
have been used by Saint Mark, when he wrote down Saint 
Peter’s discourses; and whoever translated Saint Matthew must 
have referred to Saint Mark, that was written originally in 
Greek. In fact there seems reason for supposing that Saint Mark 
himself translated Saint Matthew’s Gospel into Greek (supra, 
p- 372). In this case the resemblance between the two gospels 
is quite explicable. Saint Luke may have used both gospels 
when writing his own, and this would account for the likeness 
between Saint Mark and Saint Luke. 

Against this theory that one evangelist used the writings of 
another is the weighty argument that the Fathers never suggest 
anything of the kind. The three synoptic gospels reproduce 
probably the first catechesis, i.e. the outline which the apostles 
agreed to use in preaching, the primitive oral gospel to which 
(according to Gal. 11. 2) Saint Paul also adhered. We may 
suppose that Mark, or rather his master Saint Peter, took from 
Saint Matthew, and so from this primitive gospel, as much as 
was necessary for use in preaching salvation in Rome. Saint 
Luke, according to his statement in 1. 2, added a good deal 
from other sources to supplement what Saint Paul taught. 
This is a more satisfactory account of the relation borne by 


382 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the three gospels to one another than is supplied by the 
hypothesis mentioned above (cf. supra, p. 372, note, and infra, 
p. 390). 


15. CONTROVERSY REGARDING THE END OF THIS GOSPEL 


The last twelve verses, in which our Lord’s appearances after 
His Resurrection and His Ascension are recorded (xvi. 9-20), 
are missing in the very ancient Syriac Lewis Codex, and in the 
important Greek manuscripts B and NX. Several of the Fathers 
say that the end of the book is absent in many manuscripts, 
and in some of the more recent manuscripts before verse 9 
stand the words: éotiv 6€ Kal TadTa depoueva peTa TO EhoBodvTo 
yap: avaotas 6€xTr. There is, however, a good deal of evidence 
in favor of its being genuine. Except those mentioned above, 
all the older Greek manuscripts contain this conclusion, and 
so do most of the old translations (Itala and Peshitto, also the 
Coptic version). Quotations from these verses occur in Irenus, 
who knows the nineteenth verse as Saint Mark’s, and perhaps 
in Justinus and Hippolytus. There is also some internal evi- 
dence, for Saint Mark could not have ended his gospel with the 
words e€poBodvTo yap. We are not justified in rejecting these 
verses. It is probable that this section was omitted, first from the 
portions read in the churches, and then from the manuscripts, 
because of the exegetical difficulty presented by the apparent dis- 
crepancy between Mark xvi. 9, etc., and Matthew xxviii. 1, ete.’ 


1 Westcott and Hort have examined the matter very carefully, and 
have come to the conclusion that the last verses did not originally form 
part of the gospel, but were a later addition. They are, however, very 
old and embody an extremely ancient apostolic tradition. These critics 
acknowledge that Irenzeus quotes Mark xvi. 19 as being Saint Mark’s 
words, and they recognize the testimony of Justinus, though they ques- 
tion that of Hippolytus. 

In an article in the Bibl. Ztschr., 1905, pp. 269-272, Mader ascribes 
this passage to Aristion, mentioned by Papias (apud Euseb., Hist. Hecl., 
III, 39) and possibly one of our Lord’s disciples. In doing so, Mader 
attaches importance to an Armenian translation of the gospels, of the 
year 989, in which Mark xvi. 9-20 bears the heading “by Ariston the 
Presbyter.” However, Papias does not call Ariston a ‘‘ Presbyter,’’ nor 
is Ariston the same name as Aristion. 

Reithmayr and Aberle refer to the persecution under Diocletian, when 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT © 383 


The Gospel According to Saint Luke 
. (24 chapters) 


16. SuBJECT, CONTENTS AND AUTHOR 


Subject. The Messias has appeared, namely Jesus, the Son 
of God, and has established an everlasting kingdom for the 
salvation of all nations, such as his forefather Jacob announced, 
and David in a slight degree possessed (i. 32). 

Contents. 1. (Chapters i-iv.) History of our Lord’s child- 
hood and His preparation for His Messianic work. 2. (iv.—ix.) 
Teaching and miracles in Galilee. 3. (1x.-xix.) Continuation 
of the above and instruction of the apostles. 4. (xx.—xxiv.) 
Sufferings and exaltation of the Messias. 


Chapters i., ii. Early history of Christ, which the third gospel gives 
most fully. (Birth of Our Lord’s precursor, John the Baptist; Birth 
of Christ in Bethlehem; Presentation in the Temple; Jesus when twelve 
years old at the Pasch.) ili. Baptism of Christ. iv. Temptation. Our 
Lord begins His ministry in Galilee. v., vi. The first apostles. Instruc- 
tions and miracles. vii. The centurion at Capharnaum, *the young man 
at Naim,’ *Christ is anointed by a sinful woman. viii. Further ministry. 
Jairus’ daughter. ix. Feeding of five thousand. Peter’s confession. 
Prophecy of the Passion. Transfiguration. x. *The Good Samaritan. 
*Martha and Mary. xi. Denunciation of the Pharisees. xii. Warning 
against anxiety about temporal goods. ‘Treasures in heaven. The lord 
of the household and his servants. xiii. Leaven, grain of mustard seed, 
the narrow gate. xiv. Other parables. xv. *The lost sheep, the lost 
drachma, the Prodigal Son. xvi. *The unjust steward, *Dives and Laz- 
arus. xvii. Instruction on scandal, on pardoning offenses, on the power 
of faith. xviil. *The Pharisee and the Publican. Blessing of children. 


the Christians were forced to get rid of their sacred books. After the 
persecution ceased, new books had to be procured, and Alexandrian book- 
sellers were foremost in supplying them. In Alexandria it was the 
eustom to fast before Easter only until midnight, because from Matt. 
xxviii. 1-7 it was inferred that the Resurrection took place at midnight, 
but in Rome the fast continued until the morning, because Mark xvi. 9 
speaks of “early.” Hence the final verses of Saint Mark’s Gospel were 
omitted in the Alexandrian Bibles. The Lewis Codex, which also ends 
with the words ‘“‘ they were afraid’ may have been based likewise upon 
an older Alexandrian manuscript. Cf. also Innsbr. Ztschr., 1895, i. 187. 
For us the testimony of the Church secures to these verses a place in the 
Canon. CO. Trid., 8. 4, supra, p. 254. 
1 Sections marked with an asterisk are peculiar to the third gospel. 


384 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The rich young man. Prophecy of the Passion. The blind man at 
Jericho. xix. *Zacheus. Entry into Jerusalem. Purification of the 
Temple. xx. Discourse against the Pharisees. xxi. The widow’s offer- 
ing; the destruction of Jerusalem and the,end of the world. xxii.—-xxiv. 
Aceount of Our Lord’s Passion and Death, Resurrection and Ascension. 


Author. The Church has at all times ascribed this gospel 
and the Acts of the Apostles to Lucas, a disciple and companion 
of Saint Paul, and frequently mentioned in his epistles. We 
can gather some information regarding his life from the Acts 
of the Apostles. Lukas or Lucas? was born at. Antioch in 
Syria (Euseb., Hist Hecl., III, 4). He was undoubtedly of 
Gentile origin, as Saint Paul (Col. iv. 14) carefully distin- 
guishes him from others who were circumcised. By profession 
he was a physican.2, He must have become a Christian early, 
for in the Acts, when he begins to speak of himself (xvi. 10), 
he does not make any remarks by way of introduction, as he 
does in the case of Timothy (xvi. 1), but comes forward as 
already well known to his readers. He accompanied Saint 
Paul on his second missionary journey from Asia Minor to 
Macedonia, remaining in the latter country, while Saint Paul 
went on southwards to Achaia. He seems to have stayed a 
long time in Macedonia, for we do not hear of his being with 
Saint Paul again until the latter was leaving Macedonia on 
his third missionary journey and going to the East, and then 
Saint Luke joined: him at Philippi (Acts xx. 5, 6). They did 
not again part company. Luke was with Saint Paul during 
his two years’ imprisonment at Cesarea, traveled with him 
thence to Rome and remained faithful to him during both his 
first and second imprisonment there (II Tim. iv. 11). He died 
at Patare in Achaia between the ages of seventy-four and 
eighty-four.*® 


* The name is probably an abbreviated form of Lucanus or Lukianos, 

? Greg. Naz., Sedulius. Hug draws attention to some technical ex- 
pressions occurring in Saint Luke, especially muperds wéyas (iv. 38) ; 
axAvs kat oxdros (Acts xiii. 11,— daxAvs =a mist before the eyes). 
Harnack too refers to these expressions as evidence of the authenticity 
of the gospel. . 

* Hieronymus (De Script. Eccl.): viait octoginta et quatuor annos, 
ucorem non habens; sepultus est Constantinopoli. The Church ven 
erates him as a martyr. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 385 


17. AUTHENTICITY 


That this gospel existed in the first century and was recog- 
nized as apostolic, we learn from Clement of Rome, who suc- 
ceeded to the see of Saint Peter in the year 90. In his letters 
to the Corinthians (i. 46 and il. 8) there twice occurs the pas- 
sage: “The Lord says in the gospel, ‘He that is faithful in 
that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater’ ” 
(Luke xvi. 10).* Polycarp, a disciple of the apostles, quotes 
(Phil. ii.) the words: “ Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father 
also is merciful” (Luke vi. 36). Justin Martyr, who was 
almost a contemporary (c. Tryph., 103, 105), speaks of our 
Lord’s bloody sweat (Luke xxu. 44) and of His last words: 
“ Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘ Father, into thy hands I com- 
mend my spirit?” (Luke xxiii. 46). 

In the Didache there are several quotations from Luke vi. 28- 
32 on love of one’s neighbor and one’s enemies. The heretic 
Basilides, who lived under Hadrian, knew? the angel’s words: 
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee” (Luke 1. 35). 

What evidence have we that Saint Luke was the author? 

The writer was a Greek, not a native of Palestine. This is 
quite certain from the comparatively pure Greek of the gospel 
and of the Acts, which is surpassed by no book in the New 
Testament, except the Epistle to the Hebrews. Saint Luke 
was a native of Antioch. He does not actually name himself 
anywhere as the author of the two books ascribed to him, but 
we have abundant justification for believing that he wrote them. 

In the Acts the author often speaks of himself and Saint 
Paul in the first person plural: “ We journeyed,’ etc. There- 
fore he was a companion of Saint Paul. His name is given 
by other witnesses. 

1. Irenzus, who through his master Polycarp, Saint John’s 
disciple, had been well instructed in the apostolic tradition, says: 
“Tuke, the companion of Paul, recorded in writing the gospel 


1 The first of these letters is undoubtedly genuine ; it was written 
about the time of Domitian. The second is spurious. 

* Philosophumena, VII, 26,— generally supposed to be the work of 
Saint Hippolytus of Rome (beginning of third century). 


3886 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


preached by him.”* This testimony shows us what was the 
traditional belhef in the churches of Asia and Gaul. 

2. The Muratorian Fragment (see p. 205), written in Rome 
during the second century, contains the words: Tertium evangelu 
hibrum secundum Lucam. Lucas iste medicus,” ete. 

3. From Africa we have the evidence of Clement of Alexan- 
dria (Strom., I, 21) and of Origen (in Matt. i1.), as well as of 
Tertullian (born about 160 in Carthage), who defended the 
third gospel, on the grounds of tradition, against the heretic 
Marcion. He constantly speaks of Saint Luke as the author. 
We can see from his defense that at that time no one, not 
even Marcion’s own followers, questioned the authorship of the 
book; all that the heretics desired was to cast out certain 
passages that did not agree with their doctrines. It would be 
easy to multiply witnesses. There is no trace of suspicion ever 
having been cast on the authorship of the book in ancient times. 


18. AUTHORITIES 


Saint Luke was not himself a follower of Christ but his 
work has nevertheless been admitted to the Canon lke the 
writings of the apostles. This is due to the connection be- 
tween Saint Luke and Saint Paul, who is called by Tertullian 
(Adv. Marc., IV, 2) the magister and wluminator of his dis- 
ciple. Ireneus (1. c.) states that Luke, being Paul’s companion, 
wrote down the gospel preached by him. ‘The Fathers there- 
fore sometimes refer to the third gospel as that of Paul, in the 
same way as they speak of the second as that of Peter. Euse- 
bius (Hist. Hecl., III, 4) and Saint Jerome (De Vir. IJil., 7) 
allude to the belief that Saint Paul is always referring to 
Saint Luke’s Gospel whenever he speaks of “my gospel.” The 
similarity in language between the third gospel and the Acts 
on the one hand and Saint Paul’s epistles on the other, is un- 
deniable. Already in the first chapter of Saint Luke there are 
at least ten words peculiar to him and Saint Paul. Still more 
striking is their agreement on subject matter, such as the 


1 Adv. Her., Ill, i. l-xiv. 1 (ap. Euseb., Hist. Eccl., V, 10). 


é 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT = 387 


words of institution of the Holy Eucharist (cf. I Cor. xi. 24 
and Luke xxi. 19), and the successive appearances of Christ 
(cf. I Cor. xv. and Luke xxiv. 34). 

Saint Luke derived much information from Saint Paul, but, 
as he tells us in the introduction to his book, he also used 
other authorities, and he mentions those “ who from the begin- 
ning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,” i.e. our 
Lord’s own disciples. We must think primarily of those who 
had also to do with Saint Paul, — Barnabas, formerly a fol- 
lower of Christ,t Saint Peter, who must have made his ac- 
quaintance in Antioch; perhaps Saint John; certainly Saint 
James the Less, bishop of Jerusalem (Acts xxi. 18, etc.). The 
last named, who was closely related to our Lord, would be in 
a position to give Saint Luke the exact details concerning the 
childhood of Christ that are recorded in his gospel. Many 
think also that he knew Mary, our Lord’s Mother. In fact 
Saint Luke says emphatically that Mary kept in her heart all 
the words and incidents connected with the childhood of Christ. 
As, however, Saint Luke says (i. 2) that he had recourse only 
to “eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,” it seems likely that 
Saint James, having been instructed by Mary, was the source 
of his knowledge of these events. 


19. Reapers. Date. PLACE OF COMPOSITION 


Saint Luke dedicates his gospel (i. 3) and the Acts (1. 1), 
which is a continuation of it, to a certain Theophilus, to whom 
he gives the title epatiaros. As is stated in the preface, Theo- 
philus, after being orally instructed in the principles of Chris- 
tianity, is to be still further established in them by this book, 
and is to recognize how trustworthy the doctrines are that have 
been imparted to him. For this end Luke has carefully in- 
quired what he could ascertain about Jesus Christ. 

We know nothing of Theophilus, and ancient writers could 
only suggest that he may have been a Gentile Christian, greatly 
respected and holding some high office, for this may be inferred 


™ Clem. Alex., Strom., II, 20. 


3888 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


from the use of the word xpatictos.1 The book is certainly 
dedicated to him only as a mark of respect, and is intended 
for a wide circle of readers, as it aims at supplementing the 
already existing gospels (i. 1, ete.). Its readers were primarily 
those Christians to whom Saint Paul had preached, viz. both 
Jews and Gentiles in Achaia, Macedonia and Asia Minor. No 
gospel had yet been written for converts in this part of the 
world. Hence Saint Jerome says (Hp. 20 ad Damasum) : “ Luke, 
who of all the evangelists best understood the Greek language, 
being a physician, wrote the gospel for the Greeks.” As the 
author (11. 30, etc.) emphasizes the universality of salvation 
through the Messias, as Saint Paul was always accustomed to 
do, it appears that this gospel was not intended exclusively for 
the Greek-speaking nations, but for all Christians. 

We may say with certainty that the date of composition is 
between 50 and 63. The book cannot have been written before 
50, as it was only about this time that Saint Luke can have 
come into contact with Saint Paul. Neither the third gospel 
nor Acts can have been written after 63, as at the close of 
the latter book we read of Saint Paul’s arrival in Rome as a 
prisoner, but nothing is said of his release, which, according 
to tradition, took place in 63. The author would not have 
passed over so important an event if he had known of it. We 
probably ought not to go back far beyond 63 in fixing the 
date. The years of the Apostolic journeys afforded but little 
leisure for the compilation of such a work, but the time of 
Saint Paul’s imprisonment may well have been employed in 
this way. Possibly the work was arranged in Cesarea and 
actually written in Rome, between the years 61 and 63. 


According to Holtzmann (Hinl. i. d. N. T.), 386, 405, the third gospel 
and the Acts were both written after the year 70: “ for the author in 
his preface reveals himself as a man of a later generation, working on 
the basis of tradition, as many before him have written similar 
accounts.” But it is precisely in the preface (i. 1) that Saint Luke de- 


* Some suppose that the name Theophilus is altogether fictitious, like 
Saint Francis of Sales’ Philothea. But the designation xpdarioros, i.e. 
reverend, mighty, is not in keeping with a merely fictitious personage; 
it is given chiefly to high officials (Acts xxiii. 26; xxiv. 3; xxvi. 25). 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT — 389 


scribes himself as our Lord’s contemporary (év juiv) and refers to his 
authorities as eyewitnesses (avrémrat) .! 

From Acts xxvii. 14, 15 it appears that Theophilus lived in 
Rome; we read: “The brethren . .. came to meet us as far 
as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns.” ‘These words seem 
intended for readers in Rome, for these small places would 
be unknown to others.” 


20. Tur AvutTHoR’s REASON FOR WRITING 


In the preface (1. 1) Saint Luke intimates that the already 
existing gospels seem to him not fully to satisfy the desires 
of the new converts to Christianity, and therefore he has de- 
termined to supplement them. There were’ already several 
accounts extant of our Lord’s life and works; we possess only 
two of them,—the gospels according to Saint Matthew and 
Saint Mark; the rest have perished, not having apostolic 
sanction and authority. There are indeed many omissions in 
the first two gospels; Saint Matthew tells us very little, and 
Saint Mark nothing at all, about the childhood of Christ. Both 
bring in Saint John the Baptist abruptly, having told their 
readers nothing of his origin and early history. In his in- 
tercourse with Christ’s disciples Saint Luke learnt further de- 
tails, and felt himself qualified to compose a fuller account 
of our Saviour and the history of the redemption. Theophilus 
and others may have requested him to do so. It was plain 

1 Other commentators (Hausrath, Keim, Clemen, Jiilicher and Kren- 
kel) agree with Holtzmann, and think that the books were not written 
until after 100 a.D., because they profess to detect a reference to Jo- 
sephus Flavius, who wrote between 80 and 104. Belser has critically 
examined the alleged traces of reference to Josephus, but the result at 
which he arrives is that Josephus was acquainted with both Saint Luke’s 
works, and intentionally omitted or distorted various things in them. 

* Theophilus was certainly not a native of Palestine, for in mention- 
ing Nazareth (i. 26) and Capharnaum (iv. 31) Saint Luke thinks it 
necessary to add that they are in Galilee, and he calls Arimathea (xxiil. 
51) a town in Judea. He describes the position of the Mount of Olives 
and gives its distance from Jerusalem (Acts i. 12) and also states the 
distance of Emmaus (Juke xxiv. 13). Theophilus seems not to have 
been a Greek, as in that case the Athenians would hardly be mentioned 


as they are in Acts xvii. 12. The nearer the actors in the story come to 
Rome, the fewer are these descriptive touches. 


390 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


that Saint Paul and his companions were able to give fuller 
information on many points, than could be found in the gospel 
of Saint Mark, already known in Rome. 


21. THe SYNOPTIC WRITERS 


The first three gospels resemble one another in a remarkable degree, 
whilst Saint John’s stands quite apart. For this reason Matthew, Mark 
and Luke are called the Synoptic Evangelists... The likeness between 
the three gospels appears (1) in the choice of the same subjects, (2) in 
similarity of language. 

(1) With regard to their subject matter, the three evangelists con- 
fine themselves almost exclusively to our Lord’s preaching in Galilee and 
to the history of His Passion. Their accounts and statements are par- 
allel; what occurs in one gospel occurs also in the other two. Saint 
Luke’s order often differs from that of Saint Matthew and Saint Mark, 
because he is more accurate in his chronology. Saint Mark has the fewest 
peculiarities. His gospel contains only twenty-seven verses that do not 
occur in either of the others. 

(2) With regard to their style, it often happens that all the three 
synoptic writers, at least two of them, report an event or a discourse in 
the same way, so that their accounts agree almost word for word for 
several sentences in succession. This cannot be due to chance. It is no 
less striking, however, that often in the same account there are variations, 
additional circumstances being mentioned, or other motives assigned to 
the utterances reported. 

Besides what has been said on page 381, infra, regarding the relation in 
which the three evangelists stand to one another, we may notice that all 
difficulties are not removed by the hypothesis that they used one another’s 
writings. If Saint Matthew wrote down what he himself had taught, 
if Saint Mark recorded Saint Peter’s doctrine and Saint Luke Saint 
Paul’s, — we should expect considerable differences in the mode of state- 
ment, as the three apostles differed greatly in character, position and 
work. The similarity, however, is so great that it must have a deeper 
source than mere reference to one another’s writings on the part of the 
apostles. Apparently they agreed amongst themselves how they would 
preach the gospel in conformity to the commission given them by Christ. 
Just as He associated mostly with the common people, so did the 
apostles everywhere address them first. A simple account of our Lord’s 
teaching and works in Galilee was better suited for purposes of in- 
struction than were His disputes with the Rabbis in Jerusalem, re- 
corded later by Saint John. All who preached the faith, and conse- 
quently all the three evangelists, adhered to this first outline of apostolic 
doctrine, which was regarded almost as sacred and not to be tampered 
with. We can hardly decide whether this first form was kept in writ- 
ing or orally; there is less difficulty in believing that it was oral. 





‘ The name probably means “ agreeing,” but it is not well chosen. 
Svvorrixés means otherwise *‘ far-sighted,” “ comprehensive.” 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 391 


Saint Paul says (Gal. ii. 2) that about the year 51 he communicated 
the gospel, which he preached among the Gentiles, to the other apostles 
at Jerusalem, and they were satisfied with it. He does not say that it 
was written down. If the three evangelists derived their information 
from a common source, the similarity in their accounts is explained, 
and if the source was only oral, being less exact than if it had been 
written, this would explain also the differences in their forms of 
statement. 

The existence of an oral primitive gospel, i.e. a form agreed upon by 
the apostles for preaching salvation, and serving as the foundation of 
the first three canonical gospels, is assumed by Kaulen, Cornely, Knaben- 
bauer, Le Camus, Langen, Aberle-Schanz and Al. Schiifer. Belser, on 
the other hand, believes that there was a written primitive gospel, viz. 
the Hebrew original of Saint Matthew. 


The Gospel According to Saint John 
(21 chapters) 
22. CONTENTS OF THE FourTH GOSPEL 


The synoptic writers lay most stress upon proving the God- 
Man, Jesus Christ, to be the Messias, but though the fourth 
gospel is also concerned with this topic, it is intended chiefly 
to teach the divinity of Christ (xx. 31). 


Introduction. (i. 1-18) From all eternity the Logos has existed and 
has been active, but it was only in our time that He appeared on earth, 
elad in our human nature, but unhappily He found but few among His 
own people to believe in Him, although He made those who received 
Him children of God. An eyewitness (i. 14) intends to relate how He, 
being both God and Man, lived amongst men, and taught them. 

Part I. (i, 19-xii.) Jesus of Nazareth revealed Himself in His public 
life as the Messias and Son of God. 

1. (i. 19-iv.) His dignity was recognized by John the Baptist and 
many who believed in Him in Judea, Samaria and Galilee. (First 
miracle at Cana, purification of the Temple, Nicodemus, the Samaritan 
woman, the ruler’s son.) 

2. (v.-xi.) In spite of His miracles (healing of the lame man, feeding 
of the five thousand, discourse on the bread from heaven, teaching in the 
Temple, the woman taken in adultery,’ the man born blind, the Good 


+ This section, vouched for by Saint Jerome, is omitted in the manu- 
scripts B,&, A, C, and in the Lewis Codex. There can be hardly any doubt 
that it was left out because, for reasons of discipline, it was not read 
in the churches. The object that the Pharisees had in view on this occa- 
sion was to throw discredit on our Lord, since they assumed that He 
would, as usual, give a merciful judgment, in which case they would be 
able to charge Him with violating the law of Moses (John viii. 6). 


392 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Shepherd, the raising of Lazarus) He was opposed by the sect of the 
Pharisees and they determined that He must die. 

3. (xii.) In consequence of His solemn entry to Jerusalem as Mes- 
sias, the Pharisees arranged to put a violent end to His activity. 

Part II, (xiiixix.) He revealed Himself as Messias and Son of God 
also in His Passion and Death. 

1, (xiii—xvi.) The Last Supper and the last discourse to the dis- 
ciples, whom He, as Son of God, comforted before His departure. 

2. (xvii.) Christ’s prayer for His own disciples. 

3. (xvili., xix.) His Passion and Death. 

Part III. (xx., xxi.) The Messias and Son of God revealed His dignity 
finally (1) in His glorious resurrection, (2) im His repeated appearances, 
during which He arranged for the forgiveness of sins and bestowed upon 
Saint Peter the office of chief pastor. 


This evangelist writes with inimitable ardor, with the deepest inspira- 
tion. He betrays unspeakable joy that he, with others, was chosen to 
go about with the Son of God, and to be loved by Him even more than 
others. ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw 
his glory, the glory as it were of the only-begotten of the Father,” etc. 


23. SAINT JOHN THE APOSTLE 


We have a fairly detailed knowledge of this apostle’s life from 
the synoptic gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. John? was 
the son of Zebedee, a fisherman living near the Lake of Ge- 
nesareth, and his wife Salome. He had a brother, who as an 
apostle is known as Saint James the Great. Their parents must 
have lived in comfortable circumstances (Mark i. 20; Luke viii. 
3; Matt. xxvil. 56). At first John followed his father’s calling, 
but when John the Baptist appeared he became his disciple, and 
was sent by his master to Jesus (John 1. 35, ete.). After the first 
meeting near the Jordan he returned to Galilee with our Saviour, 
and resumed his occupation, but he and his brother were soon 
called by our Lord to be His constant companions. Saint John 
was our Lord’s favorite disciple, and with Saint Peter and Saint 
James he received special marks of honor (Tabor, the Last 
Supper, Mount of Olives, Calvary). The Fathers tell us that 
his remarkable innocence was the reason for this preference. 
After Christ’s Ascension he was one of the most energetic 
apostles (cf. Acts 11. and vil.). With Peter and James the 
Less he was regarded as a “ pillar of the Church” (Gal. ii. 9). 


* Hebrew Jochanan = the Lord is gracious ({)1). 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 393 


He afterwards left Jerusalem, and we hear of him subsequently 
as bishop of Ephesus (Euseb., Hist. Hecl., III, 20, 24), but he 
seems to have gone there after Paul and Timothy.? Towards 
the end of his life he was banished to the island of Patmos in 
the Aigean Sea, as several of the Fathers state. Tertullian 
(De prescr., 36), Saint Jerome and others say that he was first 
taken to Rome, and there dipped into a barrel of boiling oil, but 
was taken out uninjured. These events occurred in the reign 
of Domitian; Nerva, a more merciful ruler, allowed Saint 
John to return to Ephesus, and he died a natural death there 
in extreme old age, in the year 100. 


24. AUTHENTICITY OF THE FourTH GOSPEL 


According to the tradition of the Church, Saint John is the 
author of the fourth canonical gospel, but, even more than in 
the case of the synoptic gospels, negative criticism has striven 
to disprove its authenticity. It is alleged? that the book can- 
not have been written before about 170, as it is not mentioned 
earlier, contains historical and geographical maccuracies, pre- 


* Papias (apud Euseb., Hist.. Eccl., II, 39) speaks of a presbyter 
named John at Ephesus. He-is probably identical with the apostle, who 
was then very old, for the writer of the second and third epistles of 
Saint John describes himself simply as 6 mpesBirepos. See also A. 
Schifer, 259. Most Catholic commentators identify them, e.g. Cornely, 
Knabenbauer, Felten, Poggel and Bludau, and so do many Protestants, 
such as Zahn, Olshausen, Hengstenberg. 

* So Breitschneider and Strauss. They were followed by Baur, Zeller, 
Schwegler, all of them adherents of the Tiibingen school, and many more 
recent critics, e.g. J. Réville, Le quatriéme évangile, son origine et sa 
valeur historique. Paris, 1901. This writer denies all historical value 
to the fourth gospel, and believes it to be the work of a mind penetrated 
with Philo’s speculation regarding the Logos. He thinks that John can 
hardly ever have worked in Asia Minor, and that the gospel is not in 
harmony with what we know from the New Testament of John, son of 
Zebedee, ete. In ancient times this gospel was rejected only by the 
Alogi = ”AXovyor, those who would not accept the Logos. The name, which 
originated with Epiphanius (Her., 51, 3), also means “ unreasonable.” 
The Alogi lived in the second century, and members of the sect existed 
in many parts of Asia Minor, especially in Phrygia. Their denial, how- 
ever, actually serves as a testimony to the universal belief of Christians 
at that time, for they strove to show that the gospel could not be the 
work of John the Apostle. 


3894 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


sents us with long and subtle discourses that plainly cannot 
have been uttered by Christ, and in short consists of a Logos 
doctrine that was not developed before the second century. 

In answer to these statements we may mention as: 

(a) Internal Evidence. (1) The author generally explains 
Hebrew expressions and Jewish customs, e. g. x. 1-16, x. 22, 235 
he was therefore a Jew by birth, writing for readers not ly- 
ing in Palestine. This would agree with Saint John’s resi- 
dence in Ephesus. (2) The author, from motives of humility, 
does not give his name anywhere, but describes himself as an 
eyewitness (1. 14, 1. 35, etc.; xix. 35, xxl. 24) and as our 
Lord’s beloved disciple (xill. 23, xix. 26, xx. 2). These are 
undoubted references to Saint John.* 

(6) Haternal Hvidence. (1) Quotations from this gospel 
or from the First Epistle of Saint John, which has always 
been connected with it, occur in Acts x. and in the works of 
Ignatius, Polycarp and Papias. (2) The epistle to Diognetus, 
written, according to chapter xi., by a disciple of the apostles, 
belonging probably to the first half of the second century as 
he speaks of Christianity as a new religion, contains expres- 
sions regarding the Logos that are similar to those in the 
fourth gospel. (3) In the same way Justin Martyr (circa 
140, supra, p. 361), in his doctrine of the Logos, assumes a 
knowledge of the fourth gospel, and says that he bases his 
teaching concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God, upon the 
“Memoirs of the Apostles, viz. the Gospels”: (Dial. c. Tryph., 
105). In another place (Apol., I, 61) he quotes from John 
ii. 5: “Unless a man be born again,” etc. (4) The gnostic 
Basilides, writing about 120, refers to John 1. 9: “the true 
light which enhghteneth every man,” etc. (Philosophumena, 


* The name John occurs twenty times in the fourth gospel, but each 
time the Baptist is meant; the apostle John and his brother James the 
Great are often mentioned in the synoptic gospels, but in this gospel 
never by name. The writer, however, declares himself to be a highly 
favored apostle; such were only Peter and the sons of Zebedee. Peter 
cannot have been the author, as he is expressly (xili. 24, xxi. 21) dis- 
tinguished from the Beloved Disciple, and it cannot have been James the 
Great, as the writer was (xxi. 23) very old, whereas James was the first 
of the apostles to be put to death, 42 a.p. (Acts xii. 2). 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT = 395 


VII, 22). (5) Theophilus, bishop of Antioch (about 170-180), 
quotes (Ad Autol., II, 22) the gospel bearing the name of 
John as a sacred book, long and universally recognized. ‘ We 
are instructed by the sacred books and all the inspired writers, 
of whom John says, ‘In the beginning was the Word,” ete. 
(6) Ireneeus, who lived almost at the same time,’ whose mas- 
ter, Polycarp, was St. John’s own disciple, gives evidence to 
the same effect, and says that Saint John wrote his gospel 
during his residence in Ephesus (Adv. Her., III, i. 1; Ul, xxii. 
ye RAE oa S 

(c) No one can deny that towards the close of the second 
century the fourth gospel was universally known in the Church, 
and ascribed to Saint John. This would be impossible, if it 
had been a recent forgery, for the various Christian communi- 
ties and their rulers would certainly have resisted the intro- 
duction of a work not contained in previous texts, and par- 
ticularly if it had not stood in the Latin and Syriac versions. 

(d) It is easy by means of correct exegesis to remove the 
alleged historical and geographical inaccuracies. 


In xi. 49 and xviii. 13 we read that Caiphas was high priest in that 
year; now Josephus Flavius says (Antiq., XVIII, ii. 2) that Caiphas was 
high priest for a period of ten years. But in matters of chronology Jo- 
sephus is known to be untrustworthy. Moreover the gospel does not 
state that Caiphas held office only for one year, but that he was high 
priest in that ever-memorable year. 

Sychar (John iv. 5) is not a mistake for Sichem, but there was really 
a place of that name near Sichem; it is now called Askar. There may 
very well have been a Bethania beyond the Jordan (John i. 28),’ besides 
the better known town of that name near Jerusalem; names compounded 
with Beth were very common. Saint John knew the Bethany near Jerv- 
salem quite well, for he says it was fifteen furlongs distant from the 
capital (xi. 18). 


(e) With regard to the often long and sublime discourses 
of our Lord, it is probable that Saimt John wrote down many 


* The value of this irrefutable witness is ; bown in a monograph writ- 
ten by Gutjahr (Graz, 1903) in reply to Harnack, Corssen and others. 
See also Revue biblique, 1898, I, 59; Corluy, Comm. in ev. 8. Joannis, 
p. 4. 

* The ru ous place called Betane (= Betonim in the tribe of Gad, 
Jos. xiii, 26) may be identified with this Bethania beyond the Jordan. 


396 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


of His sermons and instructions at once. We can hardly im- 
agine that he would not wish to communicate to his parents, 
friends and relatives many of the Messias’ divine lessons, which 
he had heard with heartfelt enthusiasm. We must remember, 
too, that in performing his task as an apostle, Saint John was 
obliged frequently to repeat Christ’s teaching —so that it re- 
mained fresh in his memory, and even as an old man he could 
still reproduce it correctly. 

(f) The author designates our Saviour as the Logos. About 
the year 100 both Jews and Gentiles spoke much of the Word 
of God; and the doctrine of the Logos did not develop as late 
as the second or third century, but goes back to the first. As 
far as we know, our Saviour. did not speak of Himself as 
Logos, but soon after the year 100 we find complete systems 
of a false Logos doctrine existing among the gnostics. The 
doctrine must have originated in the first century, and Saint 
John had reason enough to oppose the misuse of the word with 
the true doctrine of the Logos. He found the name in use 
not only among his opponents, but also in the Old Testament, 
where there is frequent allusion to the Word of God as to a 
person (e.g. Ps. xxxil. 63 Prov. evil: ix.;, Wisdom 1x: 1) xvii 
153 cf. I Core yin. 65° Phil 11.46. etc cas Cole aho eee 
XiX, eS.) em 


Many recent non-Catholic writers acknowledge now that the fourth 
gospel was written not later than 110 (see supra, p. 361). Jiilicher 
thinks it was not written by Saint John, but as to its date he merely 
says it cannot be earlier than 100. Zahn, on the contrary, declares him- 
self in favor of the old eclesiastical tradition. Resch thinks it was writ- 
ten soon after 70 A.p., Wuttig about 62, H. Gebhardt soon after 60, and 
Rutgers, a Dutch scholar, assigns it even to the year 34. Kiippers is of 
opinion that John wrote soon after 44, Luke between 53 and 57, Matthew 
about 60 and Mark soon after 64.’ 


1 John was able therefore to explain thus to the Gentiles by birth: 
“What the Alexandrian Greek philosophers imagined about the Logos, 
we Christians understand far better; it is the divine messenger, long 
promised and now become fl sh, that we call with perfect right the Logos, 
because He has spoken to men at all times as God, and now also as Man.” 

2 If no attention were paid to tradition we might believe the fourth 
gospel to be older than the synoptics, as a good deal of internal evidence 
would seem to justify this view, e. g. chapters ix. and xi. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 397 


25. TIME AND PLACE OF COMPOSITION 


It is unanimously agreed by early Christian writers that 
Saint John was the last of the evangelists to write his gospel, 
and this is borne out by internal evidence. (1) In xxi. 18 
there is a reference to Saint Peter’s crucifixion, hence the year 
67 was over. (2) In speaking of places in or near Jerusalem, 
the apostle always uses the past tense, 7v (xi. 18, xviii. 1, 
xix. 41), hence Jerusalem must have been destroyed before the 
gospel was written. (3) At the end of the book (xxi. 23) 
there is an allusion to the belief among the Christians that 
Saint John was not to die. Such an idea could have arisen 
only after most or all of the other apostles were dead, and 
when Saint John himself was very old. (4) The party hostile 
to Christ is always designated ot ’Jovdaior; at the time, there- 
fore, when the book was written, Gentile Christians were in 
the majority, and Jews were scarcely known in the Church 
except as adversaries. (5) The whole arrangement of the 
book points to the existence of the other gospels (see below). 
(6) The author’s style savors of Hebrew, and shows that he was 
a Jew by birth, but the Greek is purer than that of the 
Apocalypse. He must therefore have written his gospel later 
than the Apocalypse, having in the interval improved his knowl- 
edge of Greek through his intercourse with Greek-speaking 
Christians. As Saint John (according to Apoc. 1. 9, etc.) re- 
ceived and. wrote the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos, 
during the reign of Domitian, we may take the year 100 as 
the approximate date of his writing the gospel. We know 
from Irenzus that it was composed at Ephesus.* 


26. OBJECT AND MOTIVE 


We may take it for certain that Saint John assumed in his 
readers an acquaintance with the other gospels (1. 15, 32, mi. 
24, xvlil. 33, ete.). He mentions very briefly what the synoptic 


1 Tren.: xal avros é&édwxe 7d evayyéov év ’Edéow ris *Acias dtarpiBwv 


(see supra, p. 395, (6), (6)). 


398 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


writers have already recorded, and then adds some fresh in- 
formation to their accounts. Hence we are often told that 
his object was to supplement the other gospels, and this no 
doubt was part of what he intended to do; but he tells us 
himself (xx. 30 and 31, xxi. 25) quite plainly what his main 
object was. “Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight 
of his disciples, which are not written in this book.” If any 
man were to write in detail all that the Infinite One has done, 
“the world itself would nov be able to contain the books that 
should be written.” Therefore a selection has been made, and 
only “these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is 
the Christ, the Son of God, and that beleving you may have 
life in His name.” : 

John felt himself impelled to give this testimony, written 
with great enthusiasm, to the divinity of Christ and to be- 
queath it to the Church, as already some were beginning to 
deny His divinity, among whom Irenzeus mentions particularly 
Cerinthus,’ and also because it was easy to foresee that others 
would follow their example. 

The immediate impulse prompting Saint John to write was 
a request addressed to him by many bishops and communities,” 
who begged him to supplement the corporal gospels with a 
spiritual gospel, 1.e. to record his own memories of our Lord 
in a special work, in which His divinity should be more con- 
spicuous than in the first three gospels. 


The historical character of this gospel is denied by many commenta- 
tors. Some assert that the author was influenced by Philo, and was an 
idealist, not a genuine historian. However, the fact that he supplements 
the synoptic writers shows that he paid attention to history, and the 
discourse that he records (chapter vi.) on the Holy Eucharist is a very 
suitable introduction to what they tell us concerning its institution. He 
often gives details of time and circumstance in connection with events, 
as only an eyewitness could do. No one could describe the incidents of 
our Lord’s Passion so accurately as Saint John, who never left Him 
even in His sufferings; and therefore he gives minute information re- 
garding Annas, Pilate and the Crucifixion (cf. Knabenbauer in Stimmen 
aus Maria-Laach, 1904, 361, in answer to Loisy and others. Also the 
replies given by the Papal Biblical Commission of May 29, 1907). 





Ade. Her, Ie 26 sol Lia 
* Frag. Mur.;- Clem. Alex., ap. Eus., Hist. Eccl., V1, 14; Hier. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT — 399 


“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times 
past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken 
to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom 
also he made the world.” Heb. i. 1. 

The gospels tell us of this last and highest revelation; they are the 
written reproductions of the oral teaching given by the apostles in ful- 
fillment of their commission to go into the whole world and preach the 
gospel to every creature (Mark xvi. 15). These four books are the crown 
of all the inspired writings, and if we may still further discriminate 
among these divine disclosures, the gospel of Saint John is the chief 
jewel in this crown, as the Muratorian Fragment suggests, for the writer 
believes the fourth gospel to be the outcome of a particular revelation. 

The gospels contain the teaching that conquered Rome, the capital of 
the world, Italy and Greece, and soon the whole known world. They are 
of interest to the antiquarian, who may learn from them how religious 
subjects were discussed in the times of the first emperors, and by what 
means paganism was overthrown; they are of interest to the historian, 
more important than all the excavations at Troy or in Egypt, Assyria 
and Babylonia, more important even than all the Greek and Latin 
classics; for Plato and Cicero never induced the inhabitants of a single 
village to live in accordance with their doctrines, but the gospel has 
transformed mankind. In the highest degree they are of interest, or 
rather they are objects of veneration, to the Christian. The gospel is 
truly a “ power of God” (Rom. i. 16), subduing everything to itsclf, and 
penetrating the souls of men like a two-edged sword,’ for it is the word 
of God in the highest sense. This is why we stand when the gosp_l is 
read; this is why candles and incense «re brought, “or we are dealing 
with a most high and divine announcement. 

How great and joyful a thing it is that the Church has handed down 
to us the word of God, God’s message to men for their salvation in time 
and in eternity! Cai there be any more noble and more honorable occu- 
pation than to read and study Holy Scripture in general, and particu- 
larly the teaching of Christ, as imparted to us in the gospels! But just 
as even in Paradisc God’s words were misinterpreted, so can it be with 
the written word of God, and therefore it is of the greatest importance 
to follow with regard to it the rules laid down by the Church, for Holy 
Scripture is her property (cf. infra, p. 458). 


B. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 


(28 chapters) 
2%. CONTENTS 


The Acts of the Apostles (wpakeus atrocteAwy, actus apostolo- 
rum) in its first part (chapters 1.-vil.) deals with the early 


* Heb. iv. 12. “The word of God is living and effectual, and more 
piercing than any two-edged sword.” 


400 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


history of the Church of Christ and its propagation amongst 
the Jews. Most of *he incidents recorded took place at Jeru- 
salem. The second part (viii—xil.) describes the extension of 
the Church from the Jews to the Gentiles, and Antioch be- 
comes the chief center of activity in the Church. In both these 
parts Saint Peter is the chief actor. The third part, which is 
the longest (xili.-xxvili.), contains the early history of the 
Church amongst the Gentiles; the work of Saint Paul occupies 
most of this part, and the center of activity is Rome. Hardly 
any other book has come down to us from ancient times that 
gives so vivid a picture of the state of the Greco-Roman world 
in the time of the apostles.* 


Part I. i. Ascension of Christ. Choice of Matthias. ii. Descent of 
the Holy Ghost a. Pentecost. Peter’: discourse. iii. The man born lame. 
iv. Arrest of Peter and John. Community of property among the Chris- 
tians. v. Ananias and Saphira. Gamoeliel. vi., vii. Stephen. 

Part aI. viii. Persecution. Conversion ef Samaria. Philip-.and the 
eu.uch. ix. Conversicn o- Gaul. ‘eter at Lydda suc. Joppe. x. Cor- 
nelius. xi. The churen «t santioch. xii. Peter in prison at Jerusalem, 
his miraculous Je'ivery, ..is leparture. 

Part HI, ili, xiv. Jom. ey vi 2uul ard Sarnabas to Cyprus and Asia 
Minor. xv. Uouncil o.. he apostles. Paui’s second missionary journey. 
xvi. His activity in Asi:, Minor und sacedonia, xvii., xviii, P..ul in 
Athens end Corinth. Hi. chirdussiorary curney. xix. Paul in Ephe- 
sus. Xx. hus journey t Macedonia ed chain, H; return. He takes 
leave f the Iders srom tuplesus @ J) let s. xxi- xiii. Journey *.o 
Jerasalem. Te is taken yrisone’ .nd ont +o “es. rea. xxiv.—xxvi. Im- 
p-isonment av Caesarea. lelix auc sfestuc, Agripps. xxvii. Journey ts 
Rome. Shipwreck at Malta. xxviil. Arrival in Rune. 


D. te, ior the chronology ef th’s vook ure supped ty IL Cor. xi. 32, 
ond by Josephus Tlavius (Aisi XVII", 0,, sh: aye uhet ing Aretas, 
an Ar-bian prince, made war u, 1 iis son-i:-iav7, Tleroc .ntipas, towards 
the end f’1e reig. o!' .“*rius, Lecuuse Herod haa divore d nis daugh- 
ter. Jerod ppeal.d to Rome for a ‘sistance, which was pranted. It was 





* Fr. Blass in 1895 edited the Acts, with a short commentary, and in 
1896 he brought out a text edition of it, accorc* ig ta Codex D (see 
p. 280). He is £ »pinion that Saint Luke -omp l:d two versions uf the 
Acts of the \posulc:, uw fuller one fer ine Christians in Romc, and a 
shorter  ‘e specially cor Th oph‘lus. Th 7 rmer i preserved in Codex 
D, the Jatte: 'n ouc tracitioncl toxt. [1 e main Belser agrers with 
Blass, but other commentators oppose tuis ieory ¢. ¢. Keulen aud Har- 
nack. W. Ernst t-icd tu show that tue Codice. .» nd & are themselves 
secondary, but st.ll stand nearest to the original teat of Saint Luke (also 
with regard to the gospel). 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 401 


during this war, probably in the year 37, that the governor appointed by 
Aretas was in co-imand at Damascus, and tried to seize Saint Paul, so 
that he was obliged to escape secretly. Saint Paul’s conversion took 
place three years before this event, viz. in 34, and the Council of the 
Apostles was held fourteen years after it, viz. in 51 (Gal. i. 18; ii. 1). 
Saint Paul’s first missionary journey was made before the Council, per- 
haps in 46-49; the second immediately after the Council, probably 52- 
55, and the third lasted from 56 to 59. Then the apostle was kept in 
prison at Cesarea for two years (59-61), and in Rome for another two 
years (62 and 63). The book ends at this point. 

Harnack gives different figures, because he thinks Saint Paul was 
converted as early as the year 30. 

Weber gives the date of his conversion as 32. It is well known that 
there is some uncertainty about the chronology of our Lord’s life. Ac- 
cording to the chronology of Dionysius, Christ was born in the year 754 
after the building of Rome. But now commentators are generally agreed 
in fixing an earlier date; 748 seems to be the safest; and then our Lord’s 
death occurred in 782. (Cf. Cornely, Synopses Script. Sacr., pp. 337 
and 365.) 


28. AutTHoR. AUTHENTICITY 


The author of the Acts of the Apostles does not mention 
himself by name, but gives indications by means of which he 
may be identified. 

1. At the beginning of the book (i. 1) he says that he has 
already written a treatise concerning what Jesus said and did; 
in other words, he had written a gospel. We have therefore 
a choice of four mcn. 

2. He often expressly spesks of himself as Saint Paul’s 
assistant and compauion. Of the four evangolists this descrip- 
tion apples to Saint Luke alouc. It is true that Saint Mark 
came in ¢ ntact with Saint Paul, but the author of the Acts 
says that he accompanied him first on his second missionary 
journey, which Saint Mark did not make on account of the 
differences that had arisen between them. 

3. The style of the book and the dedication to Theophilus 
also suggest the third gosp ]. The book of Acts is therefore 
the second part «f Sain’ Luke’s historical work. He himself 
(i. 1) calls his yospel the “ first book.” 

The Acts of the Apostl.s ws read in the churches less fre- 
quently than the gospels, hence it was separated from the 
“first book” and put witn the epistles. This explains the 


402 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


regret, expressed by Saint John Chrysostom, that many Chris- 
tians in his day did not know the book (Hom., I, 1, in Acta 
A post.). 

Being less used than the gospels, allusions to and quotations 
from it are not of frequent occurrence, but it is quite certain 
that the Apostolic Fathers were well acquainted with it. Poly- 
carp (Hp. ad Philad., c. 1) quotes Acts 11. 24: “whom God 
hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell.” Ignatius 
(Ad Smyrn., c. 3) quotes Acts x. 41. In the Didache (ed. 
Schlecht, VI, 2) the word fvyov is used of God’s law, as it is 
in Acts xv. 10. Other references to Acts occur in the Didache 
(IX, 2 and 3, X, 6. The book is mentioned by name in the 
Fragm. Murat., by Ireneus (Adv. Her., III, xiv. 1), Clement 
of Alexandria (Sirom., V, 12), Origen (c. Cels., VI, 11), and 
Tertullian (De Jejun., c. 10). 


Rationalistic commentators challenge the authenticity of the work, 
chiefly because they arbitrarily assume it to be the outcome of a dis- 
pute between Jewish and Gentile Christians, and intended to reconcile 
the Jews, who adhered to Saint Peter, and the Gentiles, who relied upon 
Saint Paul. The writer, having this intention, falsified the early his- 
tory of the Church by representing it in such a way that the gulf sepa- 
rating the two parties should seem to be bridged over, and unity re- 
stored. This could not have been done by a disciple and contemporary 
of Saint Paul, but a later author must have composed the book. But 
if such had been the writer’s intention, he would not have allowed the 
obstinacy of the Jews to be so conspicuous as it is throughout the 
work. The real object with which the book was written is stated 
plainly in Acts i. 8. It is to show how our Lord’s words were ful- 
filled; ‘‘ You [apostles] shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost 
coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the 
earth. 


29. READERS 


Like the third gospel, this book also is dedicated by Saint 
Luke to Theophilus, who, as we have seen, must have been 
a man of high position in Rome. But this Christian was not 
intended to be the only reader, for at the beginning of the 
gospel Saint Luke shows plainly that he meant to supplement 
the existing gospels, and so he must have had a wide circle 
of readers in view. We may believe that he wrote the Acts, 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 403 


as he did the gospel, primarily for the communities of Greek- 
speaking Christians, amongst whom he had labored with Saint 
Paul, and then for the whole Church. 


30. SourcEes OF INFORMATION 


At least a third of the incidents related in the book were 
matters of personal experience to Saint Luke. In describing 
other things he had to rely upon the accounts given by others. 
The same men who supplied him with information for the 
gospel, furnished him with it for the Acts of the Apostles. 
He refers to them as eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, 
so they were our Lord’s apostles and disciples, especially Saint 
Peter and Saint James the Less; perhaps Saint John, and 
certainly Saint Barnabas. On some points he must have used 
written documents, particularly for Saint Stephen’s discourse 
(chapter vil.) and the speeches at the Apostolic Council (xv.). 
Of course he derived a great deal of information from Saint 
Paul. Some few speeches, such as Saint Paul’s farewell dis- 
course (xx. 18-35), he seems to have written down when they 
were uttered. 


31. TIME AND PLACE OF COMPOSITION 


The Acts must have been written whilst Saint Peter was still 
alive. His abode is not specified, as to do so might involve 
him in danger. Where we read of his delivery from the power 
of Herod Agrippa, we are only told that “he went into an- 
other place” (xii. 17). The date of the book is therefore 
before 67, and the conclusion of it gives us another indication 
of time. The writer leaves his readers in uncertainty as to the 
result of Saint Paul’s trial in Rome. He mentions their ar- 
rival there, but says nothing about either an acquittal or a 
condemnation. It is only from tradition that we know that 
Saint Paul regained his liberty after being in prison for two 
years in Rome.t’ We must conclude, therefore, that Saint Paul 
was still in prison when the book was finished, for otherwise 


1 This view is generally accepted. 


404 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Saint Luke, who reports everything with accuracy and in de- 
tail, would not have omitted to inform his readers of his 
sentence. We have therefore reason to believe that the Acts 
of the Apostles was written in Rome between the years 61 
and 63, whilst Saint Luke was encouraging Saint Paul in his 
captivity (Col. iv. 14). This was the opinion formed by Saint 
Jerome (De Viris Illustr., c. 7). 


SECOND SECTION 
DIDACTIC BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 


SAINT PAUL’S EPISTLES 
32. SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE 


1. Paul, or, as he was called before his missionary journeys, 
Sault was by birth a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. His 
birthplace was the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. His parents brought 
him up according to strictly orthodox principles (Acts xxil:. 
6), and it was probably whilst he was still at home that he 
learnt the business of weaving tent-covers, by which he gen- 
erally had to support himself on his apostolic journeys. It 
was a matter of principle among the Pharisees that every man 
should have his son taught a trade. His parents must have 
occupied a good position and have been well-to-do, for their 
son from his birth enjoyed full Roman citizenship and was 
sent to complete his education at Jerusalem,” where he was 
attached to the school of Gamaliel, a famous teacher of the 
Jaw, and acquired rabbinical learning and that strict conformity 
to Jewish customs which was regarded as a special ornament 
to a zealous Israelite. He must have received some instruction 


* Saul: Sha’il. This Jewish name was unfamiliar to Greeks and 
Romans, but Paulus, resembling it in sound, was in frequent use. Per- 
haps the apostle adopted the latter name as a token of respect to the 
Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus (Acts xiii. 7), and perhaps also from 
motives of humility. ITaf\os, paulus = ravpos = insignificant, little. 

* From Acts xxiii. 16 it appears that Saint Paul had a married sister 
in Jerusalem, as her son assisted him when he was in prison, 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 405 


in the literature of western nations, probably before he left 
Tarsus, for he shows in his writings that he was familiar with 
Greek authors (Acts xvii. 28; Titus 1. 12; I Cor. xv. 33). 

2. Being an ardent enthusiast for the Jewish law, young 
Saul took part in stoning Saint Stephen, and it is not improb- 
able that he wrote down Saint Stephen’s discourse, which 
Saint Luke gives very fully in Acts vil., with a view to using 
it in further persecutions of the Christians. Saint Stephen’s 
last prayer may have won for him the grace of conversion, 
although for a time his hatred of the followers of the Crucified 
seemed intensified (Acts vill. 3, xxi. 4). Not contented with 
persecuting them in Jerusalem, he sought and obtained from 
the Synedrium letters authorizing him to seize all the disciples 
of Christ who were in Damascus, and bring them as prisoners 
to Jerusalem. Not far from Damascus he had a vision of our. 
Lord, which agitated him to a terrible degree and changed 
him from an enemy to a most zealous champion of Christianity 
eac ied X i AlsOUXX1lt nO; XVI Let ele, )s 

3. He was baptized in Damascus, and at once began to 
proclaim Christ as the Messias and as divine. Then for a time 
he withdrew to Arabia (Gal. 1. 17), probably that by prayer 
and penance he might prepare himself for a wider sphere of 
action. He returned to Damascus and continued his work, 
promoting Christianity with the greatest zeal, so that the Jews, 
in their indignation, tried to seize him, and he had to flee 
at the risk of his life (Acts ix. 23). He went at first to 
Jerusalem in order to make acquaintance with Saint Peter. 
This was three years after his conversion, probably in the year 
37 (Gal. i. 18). Being persecuted here also by the Jews, and 
having received special signs from Christ (Acts xxii. 18), he 
went to Tarsus, his native city, and remained there some years 
(Gal. 1. 21).° About this time the first community of Gentile 
Christians was formed in Antioch, Barnabas being its ruler, 


1 It has been proposed to read ”Apafa in this passage, instead of 
*ApaBia. *ApaBa (MII) was a place in Galilee, but, being so obscure, 
it would have required some further designation. We might perhaps 
read épnulay (araba = solitude). There was actually a place called Beth- 
Araba in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea (Jos. xv. 6). 


406 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


but as he alone could not accomplish all that had to be done, 
he summoned Saul from Tarsus to be his assistant, perhaps in 
the year 42. After both had received their ordination as 
apostles (Acts xiii. 2), they proceeded, like the others, on 
missionary journeys for the purpose of preaching the gospel. 


33. CONTINUATION. FIRST AND SECOND MISSIONARY 
JOURNEYS OF SAINT PAUL 


Saint Paul’s three missionary journeys, recorded in the Acts 
of the Apostles, began at Antioch. 


4. The first journey (Acts xiil., xiv.) was the shortest. It took place 
in the years 46-49. With Barnabas and his young nephew, Mark, the 
apostle traveled first to Seleucia and thence to Cyprus. They crossed 
the island from east to west, preaching the gospel everywhere. Then 
they sailed to Asia Minor. Mark left them at Perge in Pamphylia and 
went to Jerusalem, whilst Paul and Barnabas visited the interior of the 
country (Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia), 
founding communities of Christians. Then they took ship at Attalia and 
returned to Antioch, where the Christians were at that time in great 
excitement regarding the question whether Gentile Christians were 
bound to keep the Jewish law. On account of this dispute both Paul 
and Barnabas attended the Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem (Acts 
xv.), where it was decided that the Gentiles were free from the Mosaic 
Law, but were to refrain from all participation in heathen worship (e. g. 
from sacrificial feasts), from incest (marriage between near relatives) 
and from blood, which included anything strangled. These regulations 
were made chiefly for the sake of the Jews, to facilitate their entrance 
into the Church. After the Council, the two apostles returned to 
Antioch. 

5. Second missionary journey. Not long afterwards, perhaps in the 
year 52, Saint Paul undertook another journey (see Acts xv. 36, ete.). 
Barnabas and Mark again proposed to accompany him, but Saint Paul 
refused to take Mark with him and they separated, though they did 
not cherish any resentment against one another, for later on we find 
Mark with Saint Paul in Rome (Col. iv. 10). Barnabas determined to 
go with Mark to visit the communities in Cyprus, whilst Saint Paul 
went to Asia Minor with Silas (Silvanus) whom he had summoned 
from Jerusalem. They traveled on foot through Syria and Cilicia, 
then through Pisidia, Lycaonia, where they were joined by Timothy, 
Phrygia, Galatia and Mysia. At Troas in Mysia, where Saint Luke be- 
came one of the apostle’s companions,’ he had in a dream a vision of a 
Macedonian, imploring help. Taking this as an indication of God’s will 


*From this point onwards in Acts we read: “we traveled.” 








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THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT = 407 


that he should go still farther west, and first to Macedonia to preach 
the gospel, he at once set out on the way. 

6. The city of Philippi was the first place in Europe where he began 
to preach. He succeeded in establishing a Christian community there, 
which remained devoted to him, showing him much love and loyalty. 
From Rome he subsequently addressed a letter of consolation, that we 
still possess, to this community. Saint Luke seems to have remained 
in Philippi until he rejoined Saint Paul on his third journey at this 
point, as it is only in Acts xx. 6 that he resumes the use of the first 
person plural in his account. St. Paul was forced to leave Philippi after 
suffering scourging and imprisonment, and Thessalonica was the next 
scene of his apostolic labors. He could stay here only a short time, as 
the Jews raised a disturbance, and he had to flee from the city. The 
two letters written soon afterwards from Corinth to the Thessalonians, 
prove, however, that he had worked in Thessalonica with success, and 
that the community there was deficient in instruction but not in firm- 
ness of faith. He had a similar experience in Berea, a neighboring 
town; there was again an uproar among the Jews, and he had to take 
flight. Then having left Silas and Timothy behind, that they might 
continue to work in Macedonia, a not unfavorable field for missionary 
enterprise, he himself went southwards to Athens, where very few would 
hear him, and on to Corinth, then the capital of Greece. Here he suc- 
ceeded in establishing a numerous community, consisting chiefly of Gen- 
tile Christians, and he stayed with them for a year and a half. It was 
at Corinth that he learnt to know Aquila and his wife Priscilla, Jewish 
Christians, who had been driven away from Rome, and they were of great 
service to him in his apostolic work. Silas and Timothy rejoined him 
in Corinth. He seems to have gone on one occasion to Illyria from Cor- 
inth, as in Rom. xv. 19 he says that he has preached the gospel as far 
as Illyria, and in 2 Cor. xii. 14 and xiii. 1, he says that before writing 
that epistle he had already been twice in Corinth. The journey to 
Illyria is not mentioned in the Acts, and no more suitable date for 
it can be found. Saint Paul was finally obliged to quit Corinth, 
on account of a tumult stirrel up by the Jews, and he returned to the 
East. He first visited Ephesus, but did not stay there long, though he 
left Aquila and Priscilla there and promised to return at a later time. 
He sailed to Cesarea in Palestine and went thence (most probably) to 
Jerusalem in order to fulfill a vow that he had made (Acts xviii. 18, 
ete.). In the year 55 he revisited Antioch. In the meantime Apollos, 
an Alexandrian Jew by birth, who had received only the baptism of 
John, had appeared in Ephesus, preaching Christ as the Messias. Hav- 
ing been more accurately instructed in Christianity by Aquila and 
Priscilla, he too went to Corinth, and by means of his ardent zeal and 
great eloquence he won extraordinary popularity, so that many of the 
Corinthians esteemed him even more highly than Saint Paul (1 Cor, ili. 
4, etc.). 


408 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


34. CONTINUATION. SAINT PavuL’s THIRD MISSIONARY 
JOURNEY. His IMPRISONMENT } 


7. After some time Saint Paul again traveled through Asia Minor, 
revisiting especially the communities of Christians in Galatia and 
Phrygia, and encouraging new converts. Then, as he had promised, he 
went to Ephesus, and remained there nearly three years. The gospel 
made such progress in and near Ephesus that the heathen worship 
suffered in consequence, and the pilgrimages to the Temple of Artemis 
diminished. This caused Demetrius the silversmith, who maintained 
himself and a large number of workmen by making little representations 
of the Temple of Diana, to stir up a tumult against Saint Paul, who 
was obliged therefore to leave Ephesus. 

8. He traveled first to Macedonia, then to Achaia, where he stayed 
three months (Acts xx. 3), and he undoubtedly visited Corinth. On his 
return to Macedonia he was rejoined by Saint Luke. He had for a long 
time been wishing to go once more to Jerusalem and then to Rome 
(Acts xix. 21). His plan was carried out, but not in the way he had 
intended. He began his journey by sailing to Troas and going thence 
on foot to Assus. He went on with his companions by way of Mitylene, 
Chios and Samos to Miletus, where the elders of the church at Ephesus 
met him, and he took a touching farewell of them (Acts xx. 17-38). 
Sailing on, they passed Cyprus on the left, and landed at Tyre, and 
thence, in spite of all the warnings given by the Christians, Saint Paul 
went on to Jerusalem. Although he was as cautious as circumstances 
allowed, he was recognized on the eighth day by some Jews from Asia 
Minor, and was only saved from the violence and fury of the Jews by the 
prompt interference of the Roman watchmen. As his life was not safe 
even in prison (supra, p. 404, note 2) he was conveyed by a strong 
escort of soldiers to Cesarea, and given into the charge of Felix, the 
procurator, who kept him in an easy kind of captivity, but did not re- 
lease him, hoping for a large ransom from the Christians. Two years 
later Felix transferred the prisoner to his successor Festus. 

9. Festus showed some inclination to give the apostle up to the Jew- 
ish Synedrium, and Saint Paul, perceiving this, and knowing what cruel 
vengeance he would have to expect, used his rights as a Roman citizen, 
and appealed to the emperor (Acts xxv. 9). The result of this action 
was that his case had to be transferred to Rome, and he had to be 
taken thither as a prisoner. This was in the autumn of the year 61. 
His companions were Saint Luke and Aristarchus, a Macedonian. After 
a long and stormy voyage, the ship was wrecked on the coast of Malta, 
but all on board were saved. They had to pass the winter in Malta, and 
were only able to continue their journey in the spring of 62. They 
landed at Puteoli, and proceeded on foot to Rome. 

10. Saint Paul’s imprisonment in Rome was comparatively easy; he 
was allowed to go out, and found opportunities of spreading the gospel.* 


PAGS. X1te ate enc, 
2“ We remained two whole years in his own hired lodging, and he 
received all that came in to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 409 


At this point the account of Saint Paul given in the Acts of the Apostles 
ends abruptly. Tradition, however, tells us that after two years he was 
acquitted, and then undertook a fourth journey, first to Spain, which he 
had long intended to visit (Rom. xv. 24, 28), then again to the East, 
and afterwards to Rome, where he was imprisoned again, and in the 
year 67 on June 29, at the same time as Saint Peter, he suffered mar- 
tyrdom, dying by the sword as befitted his Roman citizenship. 

We know nothing with certainty as to Saint Paul’s age. At the 
time of Saint Stephen’s death by stoning, he was (Acts vii. 57) still a 
young man, certainly under thirty, as he was not allowed to take part 
in the actual stoning, for a man under thirty could not perform any pub- 
lic action. Saint Stephen’s death may be assigned to the year 34; soon 
after it Paul was employed by the Synedrium and sent to Damascus, so 
he must then have attained the age of thirty. He was converted on his 
way, and for about thirty-three years he worked as a Christian and as 
an apostle, so that it was at the age of sixty-three that he ended his life, 
witnessing to the faith with his blood.’ 


35. CHARACTER OF SAINT PAUL AS A MAN AND AS A 
WRITER 


1. In outward appearance Saint Paul was, according to all 
ancient accounts, very insignificant;? and he tells us_ this 
himself in IT Corinthians x. 10. The external gifts of a rheto- 
rician seem to have been denied him, such as a clear, strong voice, 
a bright and lively glance, assurance and resolution. The ab- 
sence of these gifts explains why Apollos, being a fluent speaker, 
won more favor than Saint Paul in many quarters in Corinth. 


teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all con- 
fidence, without prohibition ” (Acts xxviii. 30, 31). 

* Reithmayr denies that the apostle was ever released, and that he 
made a fourth journey. Kaulen, Spitta, oppose this view. Eusebius 
(Hist. Eccl., II, 22) and Saint Jerome (De Viris Illustr., ec. 5, Comm. in 
Amos, V, 8) state definitely that he did regain his freedom. Saint Clem- 
ent of Rome (Hp., I, ¢. 5) says that Saint Paul went to the limits of 
the West.. In the Muratorian Fragment, where the Acts of the Apostles 
is mentioned, there is an allusion to a journey of St. Paul ab urbe ad 
Spaniam proficiscentis. It is probable that Saint Paul did not stay long 
in Spain, and traveled thence to Crete, where he left Titus, and then to 
Ephesus, where he left Timothy. He visited various communities in the 
interior of Asia Minor, went by way of Miletus (2 Tim. iv. 20) to Mace- 
donia and Achaia, then to Nicopolis in Epirus, whither Titus was to fol- 
low him (Titus iii. 12), and finally back to Rome. 

* Niceph., Hist. Eccl., Il, 37 (Migne, Patres Gr., 145-147). 


410 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Moreover Saint Paul purposely avoided trying to please by 
means of human artifices and especially by rhetorical tricks 
of speech, for he did not wish the glory to be his, but God’s, 
and he was unwilling that any one should ascribe his success to 
his own human exertions... He was content to be the humble 
instrument of the Holy Ghost. Like Jonas after his wonder- 
ful rescue, he was always anxious when preaching, and feared 
lest he should fail in his task and be rejected because of his 
former sins (I Cor. ix. 16, etc., and 27). Our Saviour had 
commissioned him, in compensation for the injury he had done 
the Church, to spread the gospel among the Gentiles, and this 
duty he fulfilled more abundantly than all the other apostles 
(I Cor. xv. 10), for he not only attained greater success, but 
incurred more trouble and suffering.? Amidst it all he showed 
himself so absolutely unselfish that in spite of all the pressure 
of his apostolic work and the care for so many churches, he 
nevertheless earned his own living by his trade, and was a 
burden to no one. He regarded his labors merely as repara- 
tion for his former faults, and he expected a reward only 
because he worked “without charge” (Acts xx. 34; I Cor. 
ixeelo)2 

2. Saint Paul wrote no special instructions on matters of 
faith and morals intended for Christians in general, nor did 
he compose any strictly historical works, unless we ascribe the 
third gospel and the Acts of the Apostles to him. We have, 
however, written remains of his work, for his zeal impelled 
him to do what he could to serve the faithful with his written 
words where he could not be with them in person.* We possess 
fourteen epistles by him, of various lengths. Although most 
of them are occasional pamphlets, they are priceless jewels from 
the rich treasury of his divinely gifted intellect. In them Saint 


1 I Cor. ii. 1-4; II Cor. x. 10: “ For his epistles indeed, say they, are 
weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech 
contemptible.” 

* In II Cor. xi., being suspected, he is compelled to speak of his 
labors and sufferings, and what he tells us of them in that passage is 
certainly not all. 

® Other apostles did the same, and so did the Fathers of the Church, 
and our bishops still continue the practice. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 411 


Paul shows himself a master of the art of bringing conviction 
home to the understanding, of touching the heart and of rous- 
ing the will. The zeal of this man, amidst his manifold 
occupations, the vigor and fullness of his thoughts, the ardor 
of his heroic faith are so great that the reader is often unable 
to follow his thought, and so many passages remain obscure, a 
fact that already Saint Peter regretted (II Peter 11. 16). The 
topics that he deals with most frequently are Christ and His 
relation to the world, the reconciliation of mankind with God 
through Christ’s Blood, salvation at the day of judgment, pos- 
sible to all through submission to Christ, and the advantages 
of the new covenant in comparison with the old, that is now 
at an end. 


36. SEQUENCE OF SAINT PAUL’S EPISTLES 


Saint Paul’s epistles were generally read at public worship 
in the communities to which they were addressed, and collec- 
tions of them were made at a very early date. The first trace 
of a collection is in II Peter iii. 15. By the middle of the 
second century the heretic Marcion reckoned that there were 
ten epistles, for he omitted the pastoral letters and the epistle 
to the Hebrews. Most of the Fathers of the Church recognized 
thirteen as by Saint Paul, for they ascribed Hebrews to an- 
other author. The collection in our Canon is arranged with 
reference not to the date of origin but to the importance of 
the churches to which the epistles were addressed. If they 
are put in chronological order they stand thus: 


(1), (2) and (3). The two epistles to the Thessalonians and the 
epistle to the Galatians were written during Saint Paul’s first residence 
in Corinth, about the year 53, so they belong to his first missionary 
journey. Three epistles belong to his third journey; viz. (4) the first 
epistle to the Corinthians was written at Ephesus in 58; (5) the second 
to the Corinthians from Macedonia, also in 58, and (6) the epistle to the 
Romans during the apostle’s second visit to Corinth, probably in 59. 

Saint Paul wrote four epistles whilst he was a prisoner in Rome for 
the first time; viz. (7) the epistle to the Philippians, about 62, and in 
63 those to (8) the Ephesians, (9) the Colossians and (10) Philemon. 
(11) The epistle to the Hebrews is generally believed to have been 
written in Italy in 63 or 64, after Saint Paul had been set at liberty. 
It is generally assumed that (12) the first epistle to Timothy and (13) 


412 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the epistle to Titus were written about 65, when Saint Paul was on his 
fourth journey in the East, and, finally, (14) the second epistle to Tim- 
othy was written during his second imprisonment in Rome in 66 or 67. 


3%. Tue EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 


(16 chapters) 


1. Motive. We know from Horace and other Roman authors 
that even before the time of Christ there were many Jews in 
tome, the capital of the world, and that they possessed several 
synagogues, which were frequently visited by Gentiles. It is 
possible, therefore, that some account of our Saviour reached 
Rome as early as the reign of Tiberius or that of Caligula. It 
is certain that a congregation of Christians existed there in 
the earher part of the reign of Claudius, and the epistle is 
addressed to readers assumed to be well instructed and stead- 
fast in Christianity. Every early Christian writer names Saint 
Peter as the founder of this church; he had left Palestine 
because of the persecution under Herod Agrippa and came to 
Rome soon after the accession of Claudius.’ It is probable that 
he converted first some Jews to Christianity, but they were 
soon joined by Gentiles. In his life of the Emperor Claudius 
(chapter xxv.), Suetonius says that he expelled all the Jews 
from Rome because of their incessant quarrels.2 He mentions 
a certain “ Chrestos” as the instigator of these disputes, so we 
may suppose that the pagan writer was not accurately in- 
formed, and had heard of quarrels about Christ, and that dis- 
turbances had broken out among the Jews concerning the 


1 Acts xii. 17, where the author cautiously writes: é:ope’iOn eis erepov 
rérov. Of. also War Petrus in Rom? Miinster, 1872; Kirchenlex., art. 
Petrus; Schmid, Petrus in Rom, Lucerne, 1879 (see p. 438). 

2 Judeos impulsore Chresto perpetuo tumultuantes Roma expulit. 
(In acordance with iotacism, 7 may be pronounced like t, so that xpnorés 
= ypiorés. But even if this pronunciation was not usual in Rome, it 
would be very natural to put a well-known word like xpyorés = probus, 
honest, instead of the still unfamiliar ypiordés. Cf. Tertullian, Apolog., 3.) 
Of the expelled Jews probably many returned, as did Aquila and Pris- 
cilla (Rom. xvi. 3). Saint Peter too seems to have been amongst those 
driven out; he probably went at first to Asia Minor, whither he after- 
wards sent his epistles. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 413 


Christian religion. It was perhaps in consequence of the ex- 
pulsion of the Jews that the majority of the Christians in 
Rome were Gentiles by birth, as we read in the epistle.t For 
a long time a bond of mutual esteem and love had existed 
between Saint Paul and this community, and he had greatly 
desired to be able to visit Rome;? but as this was not possible 
just then, he sought to benefit the Roman Christians by means 
of a written communication, and he also wished to see the 
principles that he insisted upon duly appreciated at the center 
of the whole civilized world. 


What caused the quarrels was the discussion whether salvation 
through the Messias was limited to the people of Israel, as the Jews 
preferred to think, or was intended to be within reach of all nations. 
In the first case all Gentiles, in order to attain to salvation, would have 
to begin by submitting to the Mosaie Law, and could only thus obtain 
a share in the benefits of redemption. If this Jewish opinion had pre- 
vailed, as far as human reason can judge, Christianity could scarcely 
have become common to all nations. The correct doctrine and practice 
was stated clearly at the Apostolic Council, but for a long time there 
were great difficulties in carrying the rules into execution. 


2. Contents. In this epistle Saint Paul gives his opinions 
fully regarding paganism, Judaism and Christianity. The con- 
tents of the book are therefore chiefly dogmatic (chapter 1—xi.), 
though at the end they become ethical (xi1.—xvi.). 


Dogmatic portion of the epistle. In the introduction (i—iii.) Saint 
Paul speaks of the universal sinfulness of mankind, and the need of re- 
demption. All, not only the Gentiles, who did not know the law of Moses, 
but also the Jews, who were under the law, have merited rejection by 
God through their sins. 

Argument. The doctrine of salvation. The way to be justified before 
God has been opened to all men by faith in Jesus Christ. This way has 
been all along the only possible one; for man could never please God 
otherwise than by faith. David and Abraham were justified not by the 
law, but by faith in a future Redeemer (iv.). This same justification is 
now won through faith in and devotion to the Son of God, appearing in 
our flesh, who, being Himself free from sin, by His obedience even to the 
death of the Cross, has removed the guilt which was brought upon man- 
kind by Adam’s disobedience (v.). Henceforth it is possible for every 
man justified through Christ to live in a manner pleasing to God, for by 


1 Rom. i. 5, 6, 13; vi. 17, ete.; xi. 13; xv. 5, ete. That there were 
Jews amongst them appears from Rom. ii. 17; iv. 1, ete.; vii. 1, ete. 
SRACTSSXIS ces ROM silos x Vencenc4. 


414 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


baptism the malice inherited from Adam is destroyed, and the Christian 
is brought under the influence of the grace that proceeds from Christ 
(vi.). The Mosaic Law could not confer this capability upon man, but 
left him powerless against sin, because grace was wanting (vii.). But 
through the spirit of Christ man can overcome sin and the flesh, and, 
being chosen by God in the freedom of His grace, can bear with joyful 
hope all the sufferings of earthly life (viii.). In reply to the question 
how matters now stand with regard to Judaism, Saint Paul says that for 
the moment the Jews have been rejected by God, and their place has 
been taken by the Gentiles, but in the fullness of time (xi. 25, 26) Israel 
shall find mercy by adhering to Jesus Christ (ix.—xi.). Cf. Is. xi. 11, xliii. 
5-7; Jer. iii. 18, ete. 

In the ethical part of the epistle, Saint Paul speaks of the fruits that 
the faithful ought to bring forth in their life. Following our Lord’s 
example, they should bring forth chiefly humility and love, which shows 
itself in loyal fulfillment of duties, and in good will even towards en- 
emies (xiil.), and further in obedience to the government. They must 
also act with consideration towards the weak and imperfect (xiv.), and 
preserve harmony by the utmost submission to one another (xv.). 

The closing chapter (xvi.) contains personal communications and 
greetings. 


3. Time and Place of Writing. According to xv. 23, etc. 
(cf. I Cor. xvi. 1, etc.; ID Cor. vi. 14; Acts xix. 21), Saint 
Paul wrote this letter when he was in Achaia on his third 
journey. ‘There can be no doubt that he wrote from Corinth, 
for he recommends to the Romans (xvi. 1) a Corinthian 
deaconess named Phoebe, who was going to Rome, and probably 
took the letter with her, and he also conveys greetings from 
Corinthian Christians (Caius, xvi. 23; cf. I Cor. i. 14; Timo- 
theus and Sopater, xvi. 21; cf. Acts xx. 4). The date must be 
the spring of the year 59, as the apostle was in Philippi on 
his way back from Achaia at Easter, and wished to celebrate 
Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts xx. 6-16). 


The epistle is generally regarded as authentic, although some modern 
critics, like Marcion of old, would reject the last two chapters (xv. and 
xvi.), because they contain some expressions favorable to the Jews and 
apparently not in Saint Paul’s style. He was, however, by no means 
hostile to the Jews, and only regretted their antagonism to Christ. (Cf. 
i. 16; iil. 2; ix. 1-5; x. 1.) Spitta thinks that the epistle consists 
of two letters put together, both written by Saint Paul. The longer may 
have been written in 58 at Corinth, but the shorter, containing the last 
few chapters, was not written before 63 or 64, after the apostle’s release 
from prison. Tradition, however, from the earliest times has accepted 
the unity of the epistle. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 415 


38. THE First EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 
(16 chapters) 


1. Corinth, a rich and prosperous trading city, was com- 
pletely destroyed in 146 B.c by Lucius Mummius. Julius 
Cesar rebuilt it in 46 B.c. and it quickly revived, becoming 
the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. As its prosperity 
increased, its immorality, for which it was notorious through- 
out the world, again attracted attention. 

2. Motive. Saint Paul, being on his second missionary 
journey, went from Athens to Corinth, to try to estabish 
Christianity there, and his attempt was successful. When he 
left the city, eighteen months later, he had the consolation 
of knowing that he was leaving a large body of Christians, 
chiefly Gentiles of the lower classes (1. 26). After his de- 
parture many disorders arose in the new community, and many 
converts went back to their former immorality. On this ac- 
count Saint Paul wrote a letter, now no longer extant, bidding 
the Christians, who had remained faithful, to have no inter- 
course with such persons (I Cor. v. 9). Whilst he was at 
Ephesus, where he remained some considerable time, he re- 
ceived still worse news from Corinth, and determined to write 
a detailed letter, which is what we still possess as the First 
HKpistle to the Corinthians. 

3. Contents. The news mentioned above had reached him 
through three channels. (a) Chloe, a Christian of good posi- 
tion, had let him know that parties had been formed in the 
community, and by what means. One party called itself after 
Paul, another after Apollos, a third after Peter, a fourth after 
Christ Himself. (6) From other sources news had reached 
him of the careless mode of life among many of the recent 
converts, of the incestuous marriage of a Christian, and of the 
readiness with which many of the faithful had recourse to 
lawsuits. (c) Finally the Corinthian church itself had sent 
messengers to Saint Paul at Ephesus, bringing him a letter 
to ask for instruction on several points of doctrine and disci- 
pline. In his epistle the apostle deals with all these matters 
in succession, so we may distinguish three sections in it. 


416 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


1. (Chapters i.iv.) Saint Paul discusses the existence of a party 
spirit which he most decidedly condemns. 

2. (Chapters v. and vi.) He gives orders that the man guilty of incest 
shall be expelled from the community; he blames the litigious, who 
instead of agreeing peaceably with one another, seek justice before 
heathen tribunals, and he speaks of the disgrace of immorality. 

3. In reply to the questions addressed to him by the church, he dis- 
cusses (vil.) marriage and virginity, (viii.) eating things offered to 
idols, which is generally permitted, but (ix.) if there is any risk of 
scandal, it is to be avoided; he speaks of participation in idolatrous 
feasts, that cannot be tolerated (x.); and of various abuses (xi.) that 
had crept into the assemblies for public worship (women with heads 
uncovered, celebration of the Holy Eucharist), and then he goes on to 
describe the charismata, i.e. the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost 
(xii.), then the superiority of charity to them all (xili.), especially 
(xiv.) the charisma of speaking with tongues and prophecy, and finally 
(xv.) he speaks of the resurrection of the body. He concludes (xvi.) with 
a request for money to be collected for the poor Jewish Christians in 
Jerusalem; he sends personal messages and greetings. 


4. Time and Place. In xvi. 3-8 Saint Paul says that he is 
writing from Ephesus, and intends to remain there until 
Pentecost, and then go to Macedonia and Achaia, and also 
to Corinth. This can have been only during his third journey, 
towards the end of his residence in Ephesus; so we may 
assume that the epistle was written in the spring of the 
year 08. 


39. Tue SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 


(13 chapters) 


1. Motive. After dispatching the first epistle, Saint Paul 
sent Titus to Corinth, so that he might report to him on the 
impression made by the epistle and the effect produced. In 
the meantime the apostle left Ephesus and met Titus in 
Macedonia, after having long expected him with the greatest 
anxiety. The news that Titus brought was good; the letter 
had had a favorable effect upon the Corinthians, and the man 
who had committed incest was genuinely penitent. Also the 
collection ordered for the church in Jerusalem was making 
some progress, though not a very great one. Some serious 
evils, however, still were visible. Many, filled with party spirit, 
cherished prejudices against Saint Paul, believing him to be 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 417 


ambitious, untrustworthy and dishonest. The tendency, too, to 
follow heathen practices still existed, and showed itself in 
participation in idolatrous feasts (II Cor. vi. 14-18); more- 
over the adherents of the Jewish party were more embittered 
than ever against Saint Paul. All these facts impelled the 
apostle to write a second letter, which Titus, who was glad 
to return to Corinth, took with him. 

2. Object and Contents. Defense of himself and exhortation 
to charity. 


The epistle falls into three parts; the first contains Saint Paul’s self- 
defense addressed to the community in general, the second his self-defense 
addressed to the Judaizing party, and the third his exhortation to good 
works. 

1. (i-vii.) Saint Paul speaks of himself in relation to the church 
at Corinth, and explains the misunderstandings that had disturbed it. As 
a pledge of the restoration of harmony, he desires that the incestuous 
man, who is now penitent, shall be re-admitted to the congregation (ii. 
5-11). He repeatedly expresses his joy that the Corinthians have been 
won over to him and so to true Christianity. (Of. especially vii. 4, ete.) 

2. (vili., ix.) The Corinthians are again urged to collect money for 
the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem — works of mercy always ought to 
be performed. : 

3. (x.-xiii.) Arguments against the Judaizing party. Defense of 
Saint Paul’s person and doctrine. Announcement of his coming. 

In this epistle, more than in any other, Saint Paul speaks from his 
heart. On reading it, we can feel that he had not merely won the new 
converts to Christ, but had done so almost with violence, and had filled 
them at the same time with wonderful affection for himself, since they 
saw with what unselfishness he endured all that was painful in his labo- 
rious work as an apostle, without ever relaxing his zeal. 


3. Time and Place. The epistle was written in Macedonia 
(vili. 1, 1x. 4), according to several subscriptions at Philippi, 
in the summer months of the year 58.? 


* Saint Paul laid so much stress on this matter because he considered 
(Rom. xv. 27) that the Gentile Christians were bound to show their 
gratitude for the gift of Christianity to the parent church at Jerusalem. 
We learn from Gal. ii. 10 that he had personally undertaken to look 
after the poor on the ecccasion of the Apostolic Council. The Jewish 
Christians, hated and despised by their own nation, and for the most part 
reduced to poverty, were in danger of falling back into unbelief and 
Judaism. See infra, Epistle to the Hebrews, 5. 

2 If Saint Paul left Ephesus at Pentecost (I Cor. xvi. 8), and if he 
left Philippi again about Easter, 59 (Acts xx. 6), in order to go to 


418 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


The authenticity of both epistles to the Corinthians is universally 
recognized. The first particularly is expressly mentioned in Saint 
Clement’s first letter to the Corinthians, c. 47. 


40. Tur EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 


(6 chapters) 


1. Galatia, in Asia Minor, took its name from the Galatz 
= Galli= Kelts, who settled shere in 257 B.c. Some off- 
shoots of the great Gallic race from the far West gradually 
made their way through Pannonia and Illyria to Asia Minor, 
and there entered the army of King Nicomedes of Bithynia, 
receiving from him, in return for their services, part of ancient 
Phrygia, with the addition of a portion of Bithynia, to be 
their dwelling place. Their chief towns were Ancyra, Tavium 
and Pessinus. From 24 B.c. onwards Galatia was a Roman 
province. 


At the time of the apostles the name Galatia was given not merely 
to the territory occupied by the Galate, but to the whole Province, 
which contained, besides Galatia proper, Lycaonia, Pisidia and Pamphylia 
lying to the south of it. Saint Paul visited these districts on his first 
missionary journey (Acts xiil. 13, ete., xiv.), but did not reach Galatia 
proper. It is possible that he went there on his second and third jour- 
neys, but it is more likely that this epistle is addressed to the inhabit- 
ants of the Roman Province of Galatia, and not to the Galate, or at least 
not to them alone. Cornely takes this view, and V. Weber and Belser 
agree with him. (1) According to Gal. ii. 5, Saint Paul, at the Council, 
resisted his opponents, “ that the truth of the gospel might continue with 
you.” This seems to show that Christianity had been preached in Gala- 
tia before the Apostolic Council. (2) In the epistle Saint Paul speaks 
of Barnabas (ii. 1, 9, 13) as of a well-known person, but it was only on 
the first missionary journey that Barnabas could have become known 
there. (3) Saint Paul always follows the Roman usage in speaking of 
places —he means by Achaia, Macedonia and Asia, the Roman prov- 
inces of those names, and not the older regions to which they once 
applied. 


2. Motive. On his missionary journeys in Asia Minor Saint 
Paul visited this province and preached the gospel there with 


Jerusalem, having previously spent three months in Achaia, we may be- 
lieve that the epistle was written in August or September, allowing 
some months for traveling. Kaulen thinks it was written at the end 
of June, Cornely in the autumn of the year 58. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 419 


success. But after his departure Jews came to Galatia, who 
tried to mislead the people and rouse them to hostility against 
Saint Paul, calling upon them to submit to the Jewish law 
as well as to Christianity, if they would be saved. We are 
not told by whom Saint Paul was informed of the danger 
threatening his Galatian converts, but he sought to avert the 
evil by means of this epistle, which must be regarded as a 
circular letter, for it is not addressed to one particular church, 
but “to the churches of Galatia” (4. 2).? 

3. Contents and Object. Rejection of the unjustifiable de- 
mands of the Judaizing party. 


The epistle consists of three parts, each of two chapters: i. and ii. 
Saint Paul’s apostleship and doctrine are of divine origin, and he is in 
complete accord with the other apostles. iii. and iv. The doctrine that 
he preaches harmonizes with the history of the old covenant, which bears 
the same relation to the new as Agar to Sara. v. and vi. To accept the 
Mosaic Law, or to add it to the gospel, is unnecessary and reprehensible. 


4. Time and Place. It is generally assumed that the epistle 
was written in 56, during Saint Paul’s visit to Ephesus on his 
third missionary journey. The contents, however, point to its 
having been written during the second journey, for the vivid 
description of the proceedings at the Apostolic Council, and of 
the dispute with Saint Peter concerning the legalia at Antioch, 
indicates that these events were still fresh in Saint Paul’s 
memory. It may have been written at Corinth, in 53 or 54, 
not long after the epistles to the Thessalonians.’ 


The authenticity of this epistle was formerly unquestioned, but has 
recently been challenged by some non-Catholic critics. 


* “Paul, an apostle ... and all the brethren who are with me, to 
the churches of Galatia.” 

* Val. Weber in discussing this epistle tries to prove not only that 
the Galatians to whom the epistle is addressed were the inhabitants of 
the Roman province of Galatia, and so were the southern Galatians, 
converted on Saint Paul’s first journey, but also that the epistle was 
written in 48 or 49, before the Apostolic Council; this would make it 
the earliest of all the Pauline epistles. Belser, like Weber, thinks it is 
addressed to Southern Galatians, and was written perhaps at Antioch in 
Syria, in the year 49. Steinmann believes it to be addressed to the 
Galatians in the north of the province, and to have been written at 
Ephesus in 54 or 55. 


420 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


41. THE EPISTLE TO THE KPHESIANS 


(6 chapters) 


1. Hphesus is situated on the seacoast of Ionia, at the mouth 
of the Caystrus, somewhat to the south of Smyrna. It was 
a very ancient city of high reputation. The Temple of Diana 
was especially famous; it was burnt down by Herostratus in 
356 B.C., but was rebuilt, and ranked as one of the seven 
wonders of the world. In 133 Ephesus became the capital 
of the Roman province of Asia. In early Christian times 
(431 a.D.) the third general Council against Nestorius was 
held here. Ephesus was destroyed by the Turks and is now a 
village, called Aja Soluk. 

2. Motwe. On his second missionary journey Saint Paul 
went on to Ephesus from Corinth, and found a community of 
Christians there (Acts xvill. 21). On his third journey, after 
traveling through Galatia and Phrygia, he again visited Ephesus, 
and remained there from two to three years. He was forced 
to leave, owing to Demetrius’ revolt, but he always retained 
particular affection for the faithful in and near Ephesus, and 
the touching words that he spoke in Miletus when he bade 
them farewell are a witness to it (Acts xx.). When he was in 
prison he still tried, by means of the epistle preserved to us, 
to encourage the faithful in hving a Christian life, for they 
were in danger of being led astray by those who wished to sow 
the seed of later Gnosticism. The doctrine concerning angels, 
strongly emphasized and accurately stated, is aimed at these 
enemies (1. 21, 111. 10, vi. 12). 

3. Place. Saint Paul wrote the epistle from prison (iu. 1, 
iv. 1, vi. 20), but it is uncertain whether it was from Cesarea 
or from Rome that he addressed the Ephesians. He is gen- 
erally believed to have written it in Rome, and to have dis- 
patched it with the letters to the Colossians and Philemon. If 
this be the case, it was written in 63. 

4. Difficulties. It is remarkable that there are no personal 
touches in this epistle; the wording is very general, and almost 
suggests (1. 15, in. 1, 2) that Saint Paul had not come into 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 421 


contact with his readers. Commentators have doubted, there- 
fore, whether this epistle was really intended for the Ephesians. 
It is true that in the first verse the words ev "Edéo@ occur, 
but in the earliest manuscripts it is still possible to see that 
they have been inserted by a later hand. In Codex B they 
are in the margin, in Codex N& they are wanting. We may 
therefore suppose that it was intended primarily for Ephesus, 
put was to be sent as a circular letter to all the other churches 
of the province of Asia, viz. Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardes, 
Philadelphia and Laodicea. 
5. The contents are partly doctrinal, partly ethical. 


Chapters i—iii. are doctrinal, for Saint Paul states how great is the 
happiness of those Gentiles who now belong to the Church, the spotless 
Bride of Christ. God’s intention to save not only His own people, but 
also the morally corrupt Gentiles, through Jesus Christ, was formerly 
concealed, but is now manifest, and Saint Paul has the commission and 
the will to bring the tidings of it to the Gentiles. Chapters iv.—vi. are 
ethical. He states that all the faithful collectively form one body, and 
they must show themselves to be one, by the harmony between the 
various limbs. They must no longer live as heathen, but must practice 
Christian virtues, and by goodness of life correspond to God’s loving 
intention. Admonitions to Christian families. 


6. Carrier of the Epistle. Tychicus, a friend and assistant 
of Saint Paul in his work of teaching, was to carry this epistle 
(vi. 21). The same man conveyed also the epistle to the 
Colossians (Col. iv. 7). ‘These two epistles resemble one an- 
other closely, and we can hardly doubt that Tychicus conveyed 
them both from Rome towards the end of the year 63, taking 
with him at the same time the short letter to Philemon, a 
Christian living at Colosse. 

The authenticity of this epistle is beyond question, for in 
support of it we have the evidence of the /ragm. Mur., Irenzeus, 
Origen, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, all of whom 
know it only as addressed to Ephesus. Even if the words 
év ’Edét@m in y. 1 are missing in the manuscripts they un- 
doubtedly occur in the title. 


422 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


42. Tur EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 


(4 chapters) 


1. Philippi in Macedonia was the first city on European soil 
in which Saint Paul preached the gospel. It was formerly only 
a village known as Krenides,’ but was enlarged and fortified 
by Philip II of Macedonia, and thenceforth bore his name. A 
Roman colony was established there in 42 B.o., and the in- 
habitants enjoyed immunity from taxation and the privileges 
of Roman citizenship. At the present time a little village 
called Filiba stands on the ruins of the former city. Saint 
Paul visited Philippi on his second missionary journey and 
founded a Christian church there. He returned thither on his 
third journey (Acts xx. 6). The faithful in this town were 
particularly loyal to their teacher, and were more steadfast 
than many others, both in faith and morals. This is plain 
from the epistle addressed to them by Saint Paul, which re- 
veals the existence of a very close bond between him and them, 
and contains almost no rebukes, nor any suggestion of wrong- 
doing on their part. 

2. Motiwe. The Philippians had heard that Saint Paul was 
in prison, so with loving anxiety they made a collection 
of money, and sent the proceeds by one of the chief men in 
the community, by name Epaphroditus ("Eradpodiros ), to Saint 
Paul (iv. 18). The apostle gave the messenger the letter 
that we possess to carry back with him. 

3. Contents. Expression of gratitude and warning. 


Chapter i. Joy at the proof of the Philippians’ loyalty to the gospel. 
He tells them how he fares in his imprisonment; he is willing either te 
live or to die. ii. He recommends them to be subject to one another ac- 
cording to the example of Christ. iii. He warns them against Judaizing 
teachers. iv. He thanks them for their affectionate offering that he has 
received. 


4. Time and Place. Saint Paul speaks of his bonds (i. 
7, 13), so the epistle was written in prison, but on which oc- 


? i.e. springs, from the number of springs and watercourses in the 
neighborhood (xpynvis = kpnvy). 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 423 


casion? He refers to his recognition in the Pretorium 
(i. 13), the headquarters of the imperial bodyguard, and he 
sends greetings from persons attached to the emperor’s house- 
hold (iv. 22). ‘These are plain indications that he was in 
prison in Rome. We have three other epistles belonging to 
the same period, viz. those to the Ephesians, Colossians and 
Philemon. In all he expresses the hope of being set at lib- 
erty, so they were written during his first imprisonment; but 
whereas in the epistle to Philemon (verse 22) he orders a lodg- 
ing to be prepared for himself, he writes here less confidently 
(i. 20, u. 17). This epistle therefore is probably earlier than 
the other three, and may have been written in the year 62. 


It is almost universally acknowledged to be authentic. In his epistle 
to the Philippians (iii. 5, 9) Saint Polycarp refers to this work of the 
apostles. 


43. Tur EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 


(4 chapters) 


i. Colosse (or Kolassai) was a town in Phrygia, on the 
Lycus, about forty hours’ journey inland and eastward of 
Ephesus. It has perished under Turkish rule, and now there 
is only a village, called Konon or Chonas, in the neighborhood. 

2. Motwe. The Christian church at Colosse was not founded 
by Saint Paul himself (1. 4, 11. 1), but it is not improbable 
that one of his disciples preached the gospel here during the 
apostle’s long sojourn in Ephesus. ‘The chief teacher of the 
Colossians, Epaphras ("Ezragpas), visited Saint Paul when a 
prisoner in Rome, and took him news of the condition of that 
and the neighboring churches (1. 7, lv. 12). In consequence 
of this, Epaphras himself was imprisoned (Philemon 23). The 
tidings that he brought included the fact that there were 
dangers threatening the faith (11. 4, 8); false teachers with 
gnostic tendencies were trying to lead the Christians astray, 
partly into Judaism and partly into heathenism, and were 
spreading a false doctrine about angels. Saint Paul wrote this 
epistle with reference to these matters, and as Epaphras was 
in prison, he sent it by Tychicus (iv. 7), probably at the same 


424 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


time as the epistles to the Ephesians and Philemon, in the 
year 63. 

3. Contents. Of the four chapters, the first two contain 
instructions, the last two admonitions. 


i. The blessings of Christianity, far surpassing all the wisdom of 
Jews and Greeks. ii. Suffer not yourselves to be led astray by the 
words of philosophers and Rabbis. The worship of angels and a perverse 
use of mortification cannot take the place of Christianity. iii. Sanctify 
yourselves by purity of life, lay aside the old man more and more, and 
put on the new, by becoming like unto Christ. iv. Tychicus and Onesi- 
mus will give you further news. Greetings. 

At the conclusion of the letter, Saint Paul orders it to be read in 
Laodicea, and that which he sent to that city to be read also at Colosse 
(iv. 16). We know nothing of any epistle at Laodicea; probably that 
to the Ephesians is meant, of which Marcion asserted that it was in- 
tended for Laodicea. (Harnack, Altchristl. Lit., p. 4, suggests that it 
was the epistle to the Ephesians.) These two epistles are very much 
alike, as they were both written with a view to opposing the rise of 
gnosticism, and to stating the true doctrines of Christianity. 

The authenticity of the epistle is vouched for by Ignatius (Eph. x.), 
Clement of Rome (I Cor. xlix.), Polyearp (Phil. v. and xi.), but against 
it may be urged that gnosticism could not have appeared at so early a 
date. If, however, soon after 100 A.b. Basilides and Valentinus came 
forward with comprehensive gnostic systems, the beginning of the 
heresy must have existed long before. In his first epistle to the Corin- 
thians, i. 18; ii. 6, etc.; viii. 1; xii. 8, Sain Paul gives warnings against 
what is assumed to be wisdom, very much as he does in the epistle to the 
Colossians, 


44, First EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 
(5 chapters) 


1. Thessalonica (Qercadovikn), the largest city in Mace- 
donia, lying southwest of Philippi on the Sinus Thermaicus, 
was a flourishing commercial town. It is now called Salonik, 
and is, next to Constantinople, the most important place in 
Turkey in Europe. Of the seventy thousand inhabitants a third 
are Jews, and in ancient times there were many Jews here. 
Saint Paul addressed them first, when, on his second mis- 
sionary journey, he came hither from Philippi with Silas and 
Timothy, to bring tidings of the Messias. They did not long 
listen to him with patience, but soon showed their hostility, 
although they were unable to hinder the growth of a church 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 425 


consisting chiefly of Gentile Christians. Being forced to take 
flight, Saint Paul sent Timothy, probably from Berea, to Thes- 
salonica to look after the new converts and then to bring him 
news of them to Achaia. Timothy rejoined Saint Paul at 
Corinth, and gave him a report of the condition of the newly 
founded community. 

2. Motwe of the Epistle. The church in Thessalonica was 
suffering in consequence of not having received sufficient in- 
struction (111. 10). The converts were firm in the faith, but 
morally they were not much changed, and their careless, 
heathenish mode of life had not been discarded. Several deaths, 
too, had occurred, in consequence of which many Christians 
abandoned themselves to discouragement, being badly instructed 
regarding the future life and the resurrection. These facts led 
Saint Paul to write them an epistle. 

3. Contents. Saint Paul seeks to strengthen his converts 
in the gospel; he warns them against the heathen vices of 
fornication, dishonesty, hard-heartedness and indolence, and in- 
structs them on the second coming of Christ. 


i. To my joy you have become Christians. ii. Remember my sojourn 
amongst you. With the greatest earnestness I preached salvation to 
you, and you asccepted it with zeal. iii. Timothy, whom I sent to you, 
has brought me good news of you. iv. Practice the virtues of Christians; 
be moral, lsve your neighbors, and be diligent at your work. With re- 
gard to those who have passed away, be without anxiety; they will rise 
again at Christ’s second coming. v. The time of the judgment is un- 
certain, the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 


4. Time and Place. This epistle is the earliest of all Saint 
Paul’s writings that have come down to us. It was written 
at Corinth in the year 53. 


45. SEconND EPISTLE TO THE 'TTHESSALONIANS 


(3 chapters) 


1. Motive. After a short time further news of the church 
at Thessalonica reached Saint Paul. His epistle had made a 
deep impression and had had a good result; to some extent 
it had served to soothe men’s minds, but as he had spoken of 


426 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


the second coming of Christ and the end of the world, and 
had declared the time of the judgment to be uncertain, the 
Thessalonians fancied that the end of all things was imminent, 
and they were giving themselves up to the greatest alarm. 
Their excitement had been aggravated by a forged letter os- 
tensibly written by Saint Paul. Some, probably of the lower 
classes, were refusing to work and living in idleness, allowing 
themselves to be supported by the charity of their fellow 
Christians. On receipt of this news, Saint Paul sent a second 
epistle to ‘Thessalonica. 

2. Contents. Admonition to lead the life of honest Chris- 
tians. Completion of his instruction regarding the end of 
the world and the Last Judgment. 


i. At the last day God will reward your zeal for the faith. ii. But 
we must not expect the end of the world immediately; there must first 
be a great falling away on the part of Christians (Matt. xxiv. 23), and 
the man of sin (Antichrist, I John ii. 18; Acts xx. 7) will appear and 
rule with the utmost arrogance. Then, when wickedness has reached 
its climax, Christ will come and put a speedy end to it. iii. The apostle 
warns the people against idleness, and bids them break off all inter- 
course with those who deliberately live on alms. Every man should try 
to support himself by his own work. On the other hand, Saint Paul 
urges them not to desist from helping the really poor. 


3. Time and Place. Like the first epistle, the second was 
writen at Corinth, about the year 54. 


We possess very ancient testimony vouching for the authenticity of 
both epistles. The Muratorian Fragment, and even Marcion, set them 
inthe Canon. Ireneus knew both( Adv. Her., V, vi. 1; Ill, vii. 2), and so 
did Clement of Alexandria (Strom., IV, 12; V, 3). Justin Martyr speaks 
of the “ Man of apostasy, who speaketh terrible things against the Most 
High” (c. Tryph., 32, 110, ef. Il Thess., i1. 3, 4). It is only in modern 
times that the authenticity of the first epistle has been questioned, 
chiefly because of its resemblance to the epistles to the Corinthians, as 
if the apostle might not have addressed two churches in a similar 
fashion. The authenticity of the second epistle is challenged because it 
contains the doctrine of Antichrist, which resembles the Apocalypse, and 
the arbitrary assumption is made that this epistle therefore was written 
after the time of Saint Paul. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 427 


PASTORAL EPISTLES 


For about a century this name has been given to three 
epistles; the first and second to Timothy and that addressed 
to Titus. They resemble one another in motive and contents, 
and all contain instructions for fulfiling the duties of a 
bishop. They have always been classed together. 


There is very ancient evidence for the authenticity of these three 
epistles. ‘They occur in the Itala and Peshitto and in the Muratorian 
Canon. Polyearp (Ad Phil., c. 4 and 9) clearly quotes I Tim. vi. 7 and 
10; Il Tim. iv. 9; Irenezus (Adv. Her., III, ili. 3) refers to II: Tim. 
lve 21. 


46. Tue First EpisttE to TIMOTHY 
(6 chapters) 


1. Timothy, the son of a Gentile father and a Jewish 
mother, was born at Lystra in Lycaonia. He was a faithful 
disciple and companion to Saint Paul, who, on quitting 
Ephesus, left him behind in charge of the church there. From 
other points on his journey Saint Paul continued to send him 
instructions and admonitions regarding his duties as bishop. 

2. Contents. i—iv., Principles; v. and vi., their application. 

i. The reason for Saint Paul’s leaving Timothy at Ephesus was the 
appearance of heresy, that endeavored to substitute a distorted form of 
Judaism for the gospel. The fundamental principle of the gospel teach- 
ing, which must constantly be emphasized, is that Christ came to save 
sinners. ii. For the further spreading of the gospel, prayer is needed as 
well as preaching. iii. Moreover, the right men must be chosen as 
clergy; and the qualities are stated which must chiefly be kept in view 
in selecting them. iv. Timothy must oppose the teachers of so-called 
wisdom, that is only a fiction, and although still young, he must be an 
example to all. v. Instructing and guiding men of every rank and age, 
and even the priests. vi. No self-interest is to influence him, but he is 
always to turn his thoughts to the judgment of Christ and to life 
everlasting. 

3. It is difficult to fix the date of this epistle, since it seems 
to fit no situation in Saint Paul’s life, as far as we know 
it from the New Testament. For this reason the authenticity 
of the epistle has been denied, but we find that it was used 
by the earliest Fathers; the oldest translations, viz. the Itala 


428 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and Peshitto, contain it, and it is included in every ancient 
list of the canonical books. 

The following hypotheses have been put forward regarding 
the date of its origin: 

1. “During his long residence at Ephesus (56-58) Saint 
Paul made a journey not mentioned by Saint Luke in the 
Acts, and in the course of it wrote this epistle” (Ad Maer, 
teithmayr). But the epistle assumes the existence of an 
already well organized community, such as we cannot believe 
was formed at so early a period. 

2. “Saint Paul, being driven away from Ephesus through 
the disturbances caused by Demetrius, traveled to Macedonia 
and Achaia, leaving Timothy.behind, and it was from Mace- 
donia or Achaia that he sent him these written instructions ” 
(Aberle-Schanz). But on that occasion Saint Paul sent 
Timothy before him into Macedonia (Acts xix. 22; IIL Cor. 
i. 1). If we assume that Timothy soon returned, the peaceful 
tone of the letter does not agree with this period; it is not 
thus that a man writes who has just emerged from a most 
difficult contest, and knows that his friend is in the midst of 
dangers threatening his life (II Cor. i. 8). 

3. The usual supposition is that Saint Paul, being released 
from his first imprisonment in Rome (63), first visited Spain, 
and then made a journey to see the churches in Greece and 
Asia; and it was then that he left Timothy as bishop in 
Ephesus, and during his further travels, perhaps in the year 
65, wrote this epistle to him (Kaulen, Cornely). Old sub- 
scriptions to the Epistle give Laodicea in Phrygia as the place 
of composition. Against this theory is the fact that Saint 
Paul had previously (Acts xx. 25) told the Ephesians that 
they would see his face no more. We may, however, limit 
these words to the majority of those who went to meet him 
at Miletus. The passage in I Timothy iy. 12, “Let no man 
despise thy youth,’ causes less difficulty, for if Timothy was 
about twenty when he was converted in 51 or thereabouts, in 
the year 65 he would certainly still be very young to hold 
the office of a bishop. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 429 


47%. Tur Sreconp EPIsTLe To TIMOTHY 
(4 chapters) 


1. Time and Place. Saint Paul wrote this epistle when 
he was imprisoned in Rome for preaching the gospel (i. 8, 173 
iv. 16, etc). He had but little hope of regaining his freedom 
and was looking forward to a speedy death. As he expresses 
himself quite otherwise in the epistles to the Philippians, 
Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon, which he also wrote when 
a prisoner in Rome, as he even orders a lodging to be pre- 
pared for himself in Colosse, we must regard this epistle as 
belonging to a later date, and as written during his second 
imprisonment in Rome, when he had no prospect of release, 
for it ended with-his execution. ‘The second epistle to Timothy 
was therefore written in Rome in 66 or 67 A.D. 

2. Contents. Saint Paul asks Timothy to come to him. 
He lays down rules for his guidance in his office, particularly 
with regard to heretics. Personal information. 


i. How gladly would I again see my beloved Timothy! But it is 
possible that you will not find me alive; so receive now my instructions 
and last exhortations. Remember the grace of your consecration, and 
discharge manfully and steadfastly the duties of a good shepherd. Be 
not ashamed of your master, though he is a prisoner, but take him as an 
example. Work fearlessly for the gospel, and strive to train up others 
as teachers of it. ii., iii. Do not dispute with heretics. The appearance 
of wicked men does not injure the sanctity of the Church. Win over the 
wavering by gentleness and patience. Prepare for suffering. Let it cost 
what it may, you must hold fast to tradition and to Holy Scripture. 
iv. Be zealous. You will have to take my place, as my course is nearly 
ended. I am abandoned by most of my friends, and only Luke is with 
me. Bring me the cloak that I left behind at Troas, and my books, and 
come with Mark to join me. Greetings to my friends in Ephesus. 


48. Tue EPISTLE To TITus 
(3 chapters) 


1. Titus. Saint Paul’s disciple and companion was left by 


him on the island of Crete to arrange the still confused cir- 
cumstances of the Christian communities there, and especially 


430 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


to appoint rulers of the churches. From a distance the apostle 
gave him further instructions for his guidance. 


It is scarcely possible to ascertain when Titus came into contact with 
Saint Paul. According to the Menologium of the Emperor Basilius 
(August 25, Migne, P. Gr., 117, p. 604, ete.), Titus was a native of 
Crete, and went to Jerusalem as a young man. Whilst there, he saw 
our Lord and accepted the faith. If this be true, he may have become 
acquainted with Saint Paul soon after the latter’s conversion. 


2. Contents. A statement of what Titus has to do, and 
after he has accomplished his task he is to return to Saint 
Paul. 


i. His chief business is to select suitable men to act as elders, i.e. as 
priests and bishops. They must possess a good reputation, virtues and 
knowledge, and be capable of defending the doctrines of Christianity. 
The Cretans are acknowledged to be very difficult people to deal with, 
and false teachers with Judaizing tendencies have already found a 
footing amongst them. Zeal and prudence are therefore particularly 
necessary. ii. Titus is to display these qualities towards all classes, — 
men, women and servants, — and insist upon the works of the faith. iii. 
False teachers are to be left alone, after a few rebukes have been given 
them. Saint Paul intends to send some one to Crete as a substitute for 
Titus (iii. 12), that he may be able to join him at Nicopolis, where he 
intends to pass the winter. (Whether this town is Nicopolis in Cilicia 
or Nicopolis in Epirus, over against Actium, is not clear; the former 
was a long way from Saint Paul’s earlier sphere of activity, but he 
might pass the latter on his way from Macedonia and Achaia through 
Illyricum (cf. Rom. xv. 19) back to Rome. Hence we should probably 
understand Nicopolis in Epirus). 


3. Date. Nothing is told us in the Acts of Saint Paul’s 
visit to Crete and his work there. Some suppose that he 
founded the church in Crete before his long sojourn in Ephe- 
sus, perhaps on his way thither; or else he interrupted his 
work in Ephesus to go with Titus to Crete, and left his dis- 
ciple there. The usual theory is that it was only on his fourth 
missionary journey, after his visit to Spain, that Saint Paul 
preached the gospel in Crete and left Titus there, sending him 
the letter of instructions from some point farther on his jour- 
ney. ‘The circumstances are therefore approximately the same 
as those connected with the first epistle to Timothy, and the 
date of composition may be taken as 65 or 66. ‘The epistle 
was perhaps written at Corinth. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 4381 


Whilst he was on his last missionary journey and after it was over, 
Saint Paul knew well that his work was drawing to its close; in II Tim. 
iv. 6 he speaks plainly of the end of his life. It was therefore very 
natural that he felt bound to give his friends and disciples, who were 
to take his place, rules for the maintenance and propagation of true 
Christianity. 


49. Tur EPISTLE TO PHILEMON 


(25 verses) 


This short letter is addressed to a prominent Gentile Christian 
at Colosse, whom Saint Paul had converted. <A slave, named 
Onesimus, had run away from him, and, learning to know 
Saint Paul, who was then in prison in Rome, was brought 
by him to the Christian faith. The apostle induced him to 
return to his master, and he traveled with Tychicus (Col. iv. 
7-9), who was conveying the epistles to the Ephesians and 
Colossians. Saint Paul gave Onesimus at the same time a 
letter recommending him to his master. This epistle there- 
fore, like those mentioned above, was written in the year 63. 

Contents. Recommendation of Onesimus. 


Philemon is requested to receive Onesimus kindly, for he has now be- 
come a brother, and to forgive him. At the same time Saint Paul asks 
Philemon to prepare him a lodging, for he hopes soon to come to Colos- 
sex. The oldest authorities vouch for the authenticity of this epistle; 
Itala, Peshitto, Tertullian (Adv. Marcion, V, 21), Clement of Alex- 
dria, Fragm. Mur., Eusebius and others. 


50. THe EPISTLE To THE HEBREWS 
(13 chapters) 


1. Contents. The advantages of Christianity over Judaism. 


The writer, without the customary greeting by way of introduction, 
begins at once with his expositio: i.—iii. In Jesus Christ the fulfillment 
of all the Old Testament prophecies has taken place. The covenant in- 
stituted by Him is far better than that of Moses, for Christ is the Son, 
Moses only the servant of God. iv. Christ offers peace and everlasting 
rest, which no one can despise save at the cost of being rejected, as was 
the first generation of Israelites in the wilderness. v., vi., vii. Christ is 
the true high priest, appointed by God, of the order of Melchisedech, 
and, having been exalted into Heaven, He stands far above the Levitical 
priesthood. viii., ix. The place also of worship (Heaven) and the sacri- 


432 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


fice of Christ stand far higher than the old form of worship in the 
earthly sanctuary. x. Exhortation to perseverance. xi. Reference to 
former models of faith: Abel, Henoch, Noe, Abraham, Moses.  Xxii., 
xiii. Exhortation to concord and sanctity. Request for a friendly recep- 
tion of the epistle. Greetings. 


2. Readers. The contents show that the Hebrews addressed 
in this epistle were not Jews, but Jewish Christians in Pales- 
tine, and particularly in Jerusalem, for they loved the Mosaic 
ritual and saw it still in use. 

3. Canonicity. In ancient times opinions were divided with 
regard to this epistle. Whilst some valued it very highly, others 
either rejected it altogether or denied that it was the work 
of Saint Paul. It is remarkably unlike his other epistles; the 
thoughts show a resemblance, but the language is different. 
One result of the peculiarities of this epistle was that it was 
not everywhere admitted for use in the churches, and it was 
only in the East that it was always and everywhere regarded 
as canonical. We can see this from Origen, Cyril of Jeru- 
salem and the Peshitto. In the West the Fathers before the 
fourth century scarcely quote it at all. Saint Jerome, Saint 
Ambrose and Saint Augustine were the first who made use of 
it, relying upon its reputation in the East, like the other 
canonical books. The Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage 
(397) included it in the Canon, as did Innocent I (405). The 
long-continued opposition offered to this book in the West may 
be explained in connection with the Montanists and Novatians, 
who asserted that there was no hope of pardon for a Christian 
who apostatized, —a view that seemed to find some support in 
Hebrews vi. 4 and x. 26. 

4. The book was regarded with suspicion also, because 
the authorship of it is not quite certain, even at the present 
day. The language* is not that of Saint Paul, although the 
subject matter is unmistakably his; and as this is the case 


* The author writes pure, classical Greek, and shows great skill in 
expression, but he makes use of a peculiar form of speech which occurs 
nowhere else in the New Testament, and especially not in Saint Paul’s 
epistles. As early a writer as Eusebius (Hist. Hecl., I11, 38} drew at- 
tention to the likeness between this epistle and Saint Clement’s first 
epistle to the Corinthians, 


——— 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 483 


it is pretty generally assumed* that Saint Paul employed one 
of his fellow workers to write it. Some ascribe the composi- 
tion to Barnabas, others to Luke, some few to Apollos, but most 
to Clement of Rome. The statements of ancient writers pre- 
ponderate in favor of Clement.? (Reithmayr, Hinl., p. 681; 
Cornely, Comp., 571). It may be that Saint Paul intentionally 
put himself somewhat in the background, because many of the 
Jewish Christians disliked him. 

5. Time and Place. According to xii. 24 the epistle was 
written in Italy, probably in Rome.* It may have been com- 
posed during Saint Paul’s first imprisonment, but as it con- 
tains no allusion to his being in captivity, it is more likely 
that it was written after his release, about the year 63 or 64. 
At this time the Christians in the Holy Land were in great 
danger of relapsing into Judaism, since they had lost their 
chief support, the Apostle Saint James the Less, in the 
year 62.* 


* B. Heigl, relying on the tradition of the East, maintains the theory 
that Saint Paul himself wrote the epistle. It should be noticed that 
Saint Jerome (Catal. Scr. Eccl.) believed that Saint Paul wrote it in 
Hebrew, and that it was translated into Greek by Barnabas or Luke or 
Clement. It would be remarkable, however, if the Hebrew original had 
vanished so that no trace of it remained. 

* That Clement knew the epistle to the Hebrews is at least probable. 
Treneus (Adv. Her., III, ili. 3) says that he had intercourse with the 
apostles. According to Origen (Comm. in Jo., VI, 36) and Eusebius ( Hist. 
Eecl., Ill, 15), he is identical with the Clement whom Saint Paul calls 
his fellow worker (Phil. iv. 3). We do not know whether he was a Jew 
or a Gentile; the character of his first (authentic) epistle to the Corin- 
thians leads us to infer that he was a convert from Judaism. He prob- 
ably became Pope under Domitian (81-96). 

° “Ttaly ” includes Rome and does not exclude it. Caution may have 
been necessary owing to persecutions. 

‘ It is remarkable that this revered head of the Church is not men- 
tioned in the epistle, but the words (xiii. 7) ‘‘ Remember your prelates 
who have spoken the word of God to you; whose faith follow, consider- 
ing the end of their conversation,” are probably a reference to the two 
apostles named James, both of whom died as martyrs for the faith in 
Jerusalem, 


434 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


CATHOLIC EPISTLES 
51. THrsbe EPISTLES IN GENERAL; THEIR NAME 


From the very earliest times this name has been given to 
seven epistles written by apostles, viz., three by Saint John, 
two by Saint Peter, one by Saint James the Less and one by 
Saint Jude Thaddeus. It is not quite clear why these seven 
epistles were called Catholic. 

First Theory: We have here the epostles collectively, not 
merely one apostle, Saint Paul, as in the other fourteen 
epistles. But against this theory is the fact that here too only 
a small proportion of the apostles (four out of twelve) are 
concerned. 

Second Theory: These epistles are not, like those of Saint 
Paul, addressed to single churches or to individuals, but to 
all men, or at least to many. But against this is the fact that 
the epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians are also 
intended for several churches, but are not on that account 
called Catholic. 

Correct Theory: Catholic means here “recognized by the 
universal Church.” ‘This is the explanation given by Eusebius 
(Hist. Hecl., I1I, 3), who says: “ The first epistle of Peter is 
universally recognized, but his acta, his gospel, his preaching 
and his apocalypse are not among the Catholic books.” The 
expression is not quite synonymous with owodoyovmeva, — the 
universal Church recognized these epistles as apostolic, but the 
apostolicity of some was opposed by a few churches. 


52. Tue EPISTLE OF SAINT JAMES 


(5 chapters) 


1. The Writer of this epistle is the Apostle Saint James 
the Younger or Less, son of Alpheus, Bishop of Jerusalem, 
and brother (i.e. near relative) of our Lord. Saint James the 
Klder or Great, son of Zebedee, brother of John, suffered mar- 
tyrdom in 42 a.pD., at which time this epistle certainly did not 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 4385 


exist, as it contains an allusion to the Epistle to the 
Romans.* 

2. Readers. The epistle is addressed to the twelve tribes of 
Jews which were scattered abroad; that is to the Jewish Chris- 
tians outside Palestine. It behooved the Bishop of Jerusalem, 
as the ecclesiastical head of the Holy Land, to address them. 

3. Motive. It is plain from the epistle itself that some 
misunderstanding about Christian liberty had crept in amongst 
the Jewish Christians. Many interpreted the freedom from 
the Mosaic law, dating from the time of Christ, to mean that 
in order to attain to salvation it was enough to believe in 
Him, and that no good works need be done. ‘They especially 
regarded themselves as released from all obligation of charity 
towards their neighbors. Reports of these things could easily 
be carried from all countries to Jerusalem, as every year many 
pilgrims went to Palestine to celebrate the festivals, and by 
their agency the epistle could also be distributed in all 
directions. 

4. Contents. Encouragement to have patience in trials 
affecting the faith. Faith alone is not enough to secure sal- 
vation; it is necessary also to carry Christian teaching into 
practice, particularly active love of one’s neighbor. 


i. James, the servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the 
twelve tribes in the diaspora, i.e. scattered outside Palestine. There 
are many dangers and temptations, because the kingdom of God does 
not appear with the anticipated outward magnificence. Have patience 
and be not foolish. Pray to God for a right understanding. Let the 
poor man rejoice in his dignity as a Christian, let the rich humble him- 
self as a follower of Christ. To boast of riches is wrong, because they 
so soon pass away. We ought always to become more perfect, and not 


1 In the New Testament (Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3; Gal. i. 19) 
James the brother of the Lord is mentioned. Is he to be identified with 
one of the above-named or not? Some commentators, both ancient and 
modern, believe that James, the brother of the Lord, was a third person, 
not mentioned in the lists of the apostles, and therefore not an apostle, 
and it is to him that they ascribe this epistle. But James, the brother 
of the Lord, is certainly identical with James, son of Alpheus, for (1) 
Saint Paul says in Gal. i. 19, that when he was in Jerusalem he saw 
none of the apostles save James, brother of the Lord; (2) the extremely 
ancient distinction between Jacobus maior and Jacobus minor indicates 
that tradition knew of only two men of the name. 


436 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


only hear Christianity preached, but also practice the works of faith. 
ii. In Christianity there is no respect of persons; rich and poor are alike. 
The chief duty is practical love of one’s neighbor, for as in the case 
of Abraham sacrifice must be added to faith. iii. Particularly to be 
avoided are the sins of the tongue, which injure charity towards one’s 
neighbor. iv. The correction of visible faults does not avail much, unless 
the bad interior disposition is combated and cured. Beware of desiring 
the fleeting goods of this world, of despising one’s neighbor and of esteem- 
ing oneself too highly. v. Woe to-the rich who oppress the poor! blessed 
are those who continue patient in suffering! Beware of unnecessary 
oaths; never lose confidence in God either in prosperity or adversity; 
receive holy unction in sickness; confess your sins honestly and be 
zealous in prayer. Seek to bring those that are astray back to the right 
path. 


5. Time and Place. The epistle was written in Jerusalem, 
probably not earlier than 60.4. D., as it contains allusions to 
misunderstood doctrines of Saint Paul (11. 23; ef. Rom. iv. 3; 
Gal. ui. 6), who did not extend his sphere of activity until 
between 50 and 60, and whose earliest epistles belong to that 
period. 


We may assume that Saint James received news, chiefly from Rome 
and Galatia, regarding the misunderstanding of Saint Paul’s teaching on 
the works of the law, when Saint Paul himself was in prison at Cesarea, 
and that he made haste to correct those who were in error. 


The authenticity of this epistle and its position in the Canon 
are vouched for by the Itala and the Peshitto, and by many 
quotations in Hermas, Clement of Rome, Ireneus, Huippoly- 
tus, ete. 


53. Tur Two EPISTLES OF SAINT PETER 
(5 and 3 chapters) 


1. The first of these epistles was probably written when 
persecutions were in prospect (i. 7, 11. 13, etc., iv. 12, etc.). 
The faithful are exhorted to stand firm in faith and morals, 
the latter particularly, in order that among the heathen the 
name of Christian may cease to be synonymous with wrong- 
doer (ii. 12). They are urged to pay the greatest possible 
obedience to authority (11. 13), to practice brotherly love, 
peaceableness and patience in suffering. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 487 


i. Stand fast in the faith. Christ has come, and through Him we 
attain to everlasting salvation. ii. and iil. In union with Christ lead a 
holy life; be subject also to authority, so that no one may be able to 
reproach you with anything. iv. Beware against heathen vices, be full of 
brotherly love, and despair not in affliction and persecution. v. The 
rulers of the Church must be an example to all, and every Christian 
should be humble at heart. 


The second, shorter, letter, which is remarkably like the epistle 
of Saint Jude, is directed against certain false teachers, who, 
under a pretense of Christian liberty, are trying to spread a 
spurious spirituality and declare all carnal desires to be mat- 
ters of indifference. 


i. Great are the graces bestowed upon us, but we must zealously co- 
operate with them, in order that we may be saved through Christ. ii. 
Beware of false teachers who countenance immorality. iii. The Lord 
will come to judgment, and the world will be destroyed. Keep your- 
selves blameless. 


This epistle seems to have been written to introduce, ratify 
and recommend Saint Jude’s epistle to a circle of readers out- 
side Palestine, who were in the same sort of danger as those 
whom Saint Jude addresses. It is possible that it was sent 
round with Saint Jude’s epistle.* 

2. At the beginning of each letter “ Peter, the apostle of 
Jesus Christ,’ makes himself known as the author. 


His original name was Simon; his father was John (John xxi. 15) or 
Jonas (Matt. xvi. 17). He was brought to our Saviour by his brother 
Andrew, and received the name Cephas (= Petrus = Rock) and the first 
place amongst the apostles. After our Lord’s Ascension he was at the 
head of the Apostolic College and directed the Church first in Jerusalem, 
then in Antioch, and (from the year 42 onwards) in Rome. From Rome 
he revisited the East, but returned thither and was crucified in the 
year 67. 


3. Readers. Both epistles were intended for Christian com- 
munities in Asia Minor, viz. in Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia, 
Asia and Bithynia. Several of the Fathers state (Reithmayr, 
Einl., p. 719) that Saint Peter had preached the gospel in 
these countries. The readers were chiefly Jewish Christians, 


1 A comparison of the text of Jude x. with II Peter ii. 12 shows that 
Saint Jude’s epistle was written first. 


438 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


for an accurate knowledge of the Old Testament is taken for 
granted. There must, however, have been Gentile Christians 
living in these parts, and several passages refer to those who 
have only just learnt to believe in the true God. 

4. Time and Place. In the first epistle (v. 13) Babylon 
is mentioned as the place of writing. This certainly cannot 
be Belbel (Fostat) near Cairo in Egypt, nor the great city on 
the Euphrates, but it is undoubtedly the city on the Tiber, 
which stood in the same kind of antagonism to the Church 
as Babel of old to Israel. The apostle seems to wish his resi- 
dence in Rome not to be universally known, and the faithful 
would easily understand what he meant by Babylon (cf. Apoe. 
xiv. 8, xvi. 1, etc.).1. Silvanus or Silas is mentioned in verse 
12 as the writer of the first epistle; he had probably come to 
Rome to bring news of the churches concerned, and Saint Paul 
may have already started for Spain. The first epistle was com- 
posed at the time of the outbreak of Nero’s persecution (64), 
and the second belongs to the close of the apostle’s life (67), 
as Saint Peter speaks of his approaching death (i. 13-15). 

5. Canonical Validity. The first of these two epistles has 
always been reckoned among the opoAroyovmeva, but the second 
was not originally allowed to be read in all churches. Accord- 
ing to Eusebius (Hist. Hecl., I], 3), it was only in Alexan- 
dria that it had always been read at public worship, not in 
Syria and the West. In the Fathers there are occasional ref- 


* Saint Peter’s residence in Rome was denied first by the Waldenses 
and later by the Magdeburg Centuriators in the interests of Lutheran- 
ism, but now there is scarcely one serious student who questions it. The 
Anglican Bishop Lightfoot acknowledges that Saint Peter lived in Rome, 
but denies that he was ever bishop of the Christians there. (‘“ The Apos- 
tolic Fathers,” London, 1890.) Harnack agrees with him. Dr. H. Lisco, 
Roma Peregrina, Berlin, 1901, tries to show that the headquarters of the 
earliest Christianity were not in the city of Rome, but in the port of 
Ephesus, also called Rome. He thinks that Paul and Peter founded the 
church here, that the epistles were all written here and that Ignatius died 
in this place. It was only towards the end of the second century that the 
Church migrated to the Italian city of Rome. But all this is pure fic- 
tion! C. Erbes tried to prove that Saint Peter died at Jerusalem, not in 
Rome. He bases this opinion partly on Matt. xxiii. 34, ete., assuming, 
without any proof, that the word “ crucify” here refers to Peter, and 
those who crucified him would in that case be the Jews. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 439 


erences to and quotations from it,’ but still many seem to have 
been afraid to use it, and some declare it to be a forgery. 

The following considerations are in favor of its authenticity: 
(1) The unbroken tradition of the Alexandrian Church, which 
must have contained many Jewish Christians for whom the 
epistle would have had most interest. Mark, who founded this 
church, is mentioned by name in 1 Peter v. 13, and after 
Saint Peters death he may have brought both epistles to 
Alexandria. (2) Ephrem the Syrian often quotes the second 
epistle, and calls it a sacred book, written by Peter. (3) Saint 
Jerome and other Latin Fathers of a later date regard it as 
authentic. There are also reasons, derived from the epistle 
itself, for thinking it authentic. The author calls himself 
Peter, the apostle and servant of Christ. He says that he 
was an eyewitness of the Transfiguration, and he refers to 
his previous epistle (111. 1). If these arguments are not enough 
to remove all doubt as to its authenticity, it is the duty of 
the Church in its teaching capacity to decide the matter. This 
decision has been given, and it is in favor of the authenticity 
of the second Epistle, so that no one, except heretics, can con- 
tinue to question it. 


54. Tur THuree EPISTLES OF SAINT JOHN 


1. The first of these epistles (five chapters) is doctrinal, and 
in subject matter and language closely resembles the fourth 
gospel. The chief thoughts in it are: (a) There is a kingdom 
of darkness as well as a kingdom of light. (b) Jesus Christ, 
the son of God, has appeared in the flesh to bring men from 
darkness into light. (c) We must therefore believe in the 
divinity of Christ, and adhere by faith to the Son of God; 
and then (d) through Him we shall become children of God. 
(e) For this reason the faithful ought to love one another as 
brethren. 


1 Clem. Rom., Ad Cor., I, 7: “Noe preached penance, and those who 
listened to him were saved.” Cf. {1 Peter ii. 5. Also i. 11, “On account 
of his hospitality and fear of God, Lot was saved from Sodom.” Cf. I 
Peter ii. 6. Pastor Herme Vis., 1V, 3. “ You are they who have escaped 


from this world.” Cf. II Peter ii. 20. 


440 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Analysis. i, 1-ii, 28: The present world is the kingdom of darkness. 
Warning against love of the world. ii. 29-iii. 22: Necessity of mutual 
love amongst Christians. iii. 23-v. 17: Importance of faith in the 
divinity of Christ. 


The author nowhere gives his name, but the unmistakable 
connection with the fourth gospel and the unbroken tradition 
of the Church point to Saint John. 

Date. The epistle is not addressed to any particular church 
or individual, nor does it end as the circular letters of the 
apostles usually do; it has, in fact, not the form of a letter. 
at all. This is accounted for by the theory mentioned in the 
Muratorian Fragment, and generally accepted, that it was 
intended to accompany Saint John’s Gospel and to serve as an 
encyclical for several churches. It would, according to this 
hypothesis, have been written, like the gospel, about the year 
100, in Ephesus.? 


+ In his epistle to the Philippians, ec. 7, Polyearp quotes I John iv. 
2, 3. His disciple Ireneus (Adv. Her., III, 16) knows the epistle as the 
work of ‘‘ John, the Lord’s disciple,’ and it was known also to the 
author of the Muratorian Fragment, Tertullian (c. Prax. 15), and 
others. The adversaries were not Docete, but Nomists, i.e. adherents of 
Judaism, who denied both our Lord’s divinity and that He was the 
Messias. : 

* The so-called Comma Johanneum did not make its appearance, as 
many suppose, until after the eighth century, in the Latin Bibles. In 
I John v. 7, 8 we read: ‘‘ There are three who give testimony [in heaven: 
the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. 
And there are three that give testimony on earth]: the spirit and the 
water and the blood, and these three are one.” The words within the 
brackets are contested. Déllinger especially charges the Western church 
with forgery, because the passage does not occur in the Greek manu- 
scripts (Allgem. Zeitung, 1887, Nos. 88, 89), but it is indispensable for 
the context. It is quoted by as early a writer as Saint Cyprian (De 
Unit. Eccl., ec. 6), and Tertullian (c. Praw., 25) also refers to it. The 
question therefore is not how the words came into the Latin Bibles, but 
how they fell out of the Greek. Instead of charging the Western church 
with forgery, Déllinger should have accused the Greek church with care- 
lessness. Might not the words have been erased from the Bibles during 
the disputes with the Arians? It might conceivably be to their interest 
to suppress such passages. Some theologians of high reputation, such as 
Franzelin, Heinrich and Scheeben, maintain the authenticity of v. 7; 
others, e.g. Kaulen and Cornely, think it spurious. Cornely doubts its 
being genuine chiefly because Saint Augustine did not know it, for the 
passage generally quoted from the Speculum is not in Saint Augustine’s 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 441 


2. The second eptstle (13 verses) is to an honorable lady 
named Cyria, and the third (14 verses) to some one named 
Caius. Many think that Cyria may be a name for some 
Christian community, and that Caius may have been the 
priest who presided over it. Both epistles express joyful ap- 
preciation of the zeal of the Christians to whom they are 
addressed. In the second (verse 7) is a warning against the 
errors of the Docetw, and in both the writer gives utterance 
to his hope of seeing his friends again. Both seem to have 
been written after the gospel, as the second epistle (verse 9) 
contains a reference to John vill. 31 and some allusions to 
the first epistle. These two short epistles were probably 
dispatched soon after the gospel and the first epistle. 

3. There is no doubt as to the authenticity of the first epistle ; 
it has always been reckoned among the oworoyovmeva, but many 
have questioned that of the two shorter epistles, and it has 
been suggested that they were written by another John, the 
presbyter of Ephesus, not the apostle, as the writer of both 
epistles calls himself o mpeoSvrepos. But we have seen 
(p. 393) that this presbyter is identical with Saint John the 
apostle. The language in these epistles resembles that of 
the first epistle and gospel, and there is plenty of evidence 


work of that name, but from a later book bearing the same title, and 
falsely ascribed to him. It happened that Saint Augustine used the 
Itala, which was not the version used by Saint Cyprian and Tertullian. 

Kiinstle, Das Comma Johanneum, Feb., 1905, tries to prove that 
the passage originated in Spain, where Priscillian (ob. 384) composed 
it out of attempted explanations of the words about the three that bear 
witness on earth. Kiinstle, however, overlooks the importance of Cyp- 
rian’s quotation. The latter died in 258, so Priscillian lived over a cen- 
tury later. It should also be noticed that the debated words occur in 
the Itala MS. from Freising, which goes back to the sixth century (see 
p. 249). A decision of the Roman Congregatio s. Officii, dated Jan. 13, 
1897, and ratified by Leo XIII on Jan. 15, 1897, states that the authen- 
ticity of the passage cannot be tuto either denied or questioned. This 
does not mean that henceforth all discussion of it must be at an end, as 
if the words were certainly Saint John’s, written under divine inspira- 
tion; it merely means that they form part of the text approved by the 
Church. We may of course hope that further research will remove all 
doubt on the subject. The decree is intended to secure their position and 
prevent their being needlessly abandoned. 


442 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


to show that the apostle was the author.t| The chief reason 
for doubting their authenticity seems to be that they were 
not much used in public worship, but this was owing to their 
being very short and to the contents apparently being of a 
personal nature. In later times anything was viewed with sus- 
picion that had not from the beginning been used at public 
worship. 


55. Tuer EPISTLE OF SAINT JUDE THE APOSTLE 


1. Contents. This epistle contains admonitions, and briefly 
but emphatically warns its readers against the attempts made 
by some opponents of Christianity to lead people astray; and 
it also describes the serious consequences of such errors (25 
verses). The enemies mentioned in this epistle were probably 
not yet gnostics, but false spiritualists, who, under the pre- 
text of Christian liberty, gave way to all kinds of sensual 
indulgence. They seem to have resembled the Manicheans of 
a later date. 

2. The author calls himself at the beginning “Jude, the 
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” In the lists 
of apostles (Luke vi. 16; Acts i. 13) the name occurs of 
Jude, brother of James the Less, and this must be the author. 
He has the cognomen Thaddeus (tad = breast, therefore the 
courageous, the stout-hearted). He describes himself neither 
as an apostle nor as a brother of our Lord, though he was 
both, a proof of his humility. 

3. The authenticity of this epistle was generally recognized 
in ancient times; only the Syrian Church long refused to 
regard it as apostolic; and on this account Eusebius. places 
it among the avtiNeyomeva. The chief reason for doubting it 
is that in verse 9 it seems to refer to the apocryphal book known 
as the Assumpltio Mosis, and in verses 14 and 15 to Henoch, 


* The Murat. Fragment; Iren., I, xvi. 3; III, xvi. 8; Clement of Alex- 
andria, Origen and others. 

* Rampf mentions the heretics Simon Magus, Menander, Dositheus, 
Gortheus, Cleobius and Nicolaus, who were distressing the Church in 
Palestine. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 443 


another apocryphal work. Saint Jerome lays particular stress 
on this fact.t It should, however, be noticed that this refer- 
ence does not proceed from any belief in these books being 
_ genuine records of revelation. The writer derives his state- 
ments from Jewish tradition, and uses them not because 
they are in apocryphal books, but in spite of that fact. These 
references give us a clue to the readers to whom this epistle 
is addressed. 

4. Both the Book of Henoch and the Assumptio Mosis are 
Jewish apocrypha, and the circumstance that the author calls 
himself emphatically “the brother of James” suggests that the 
Christians addressed were Jews, for he must mean James the 
Less, who, as bishop of Jerusalem, was the chief support of the 
Jewish Christians. Further indications that the epistle was 
intended for them occur in verse 5, where the delivery of the 
Israelites from Egypt is mentioned, in verse 7, where there 
is an allusion to Sodom, and in verse 11, where the readers 
are reminded of Cain, Balaam and Core. 

5. Date. The Jewish Christians, both in the Holy Land 
and in the Diaspora, were in a very dangerous position, as the 
head of their church, Saint James the Less, had suffered 
martyrdom in the year 62, so that, being deprived of their 
accustomed support, they were without support and defenseless 
in face of attempts to lead them astray. According to verse 3 
the apostle who wrote this epistle considered it his duty to 
address it to his countrymen, who were struggling to preserve the 
faith delivered to them. The circumstances under which it was 
written were therefore almost the same as those of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews. Just as the latter warns the Jewish Christians 
against falling back into Judaism, so does this epistle warn them 
not to let themselves be drawn into heathenish license, under 
pretext of its being Christian liberty. It must have been written 
about 63-65. 

6. The place of its composition cannot be ascertained. Ac- 
cording to tradition, Saint Jude preached the gospel at Edessa 
in Mesopotamia. This at least is what Eusebius states (ist. 


1 De Viris Illustr., c. 4. 


444 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


Kecl., I, 13); but others say that the faith was preached there 
by one of Christ’s disciples named Addeus (Addai). Whether 
there is some confusion here is uncertain. This epistle may 
have been sent from Jerusalem to Saint Peter, whose second | 
epistle, written in Rome, is plainly connected with it; and 
he, fearing the same sort of dangers for many churches in 
Asia Minor, himself wrote to draw attention to what Saint 
James’s brother, who was well known to them, had announced 
in Palestine. 


THIRD SECTION 
THE PROPHETIC BOOK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 


56. Tuer APOCALYPSE 


(22 chapters) 


1. Contents. This revelation (avroxadvyis = disclosure) of 
mystery gives information regarding the future of the Church 
of Christ, the struggles for and against Christ, and the final 
victory of the faithful. 

It is divided into four parts: ? 

(1) Chapters 1.-11.: Communications and admonitions ad- 
dressed by Saint John to the Christian churches in the Roman 
province of Asia. 

(2) Chapters iv.-xi.: Statements as to the future of the 
Church. 

(3) Chapters xiii.—xix.: Description of Christ’s warfare with 
three great powers. 

(4) Chapters xx.—xxii.: The end of the world. 


i. Christ appears to Saint John at Patmos, and gives him messages 
to deliver to the communities of the province of Asia (Ephesus, Smyrna, 
Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardes, Philadelphia, Laodicea) with reference 
to the righteous life (i—iii.). The real revelation now begins. 

ii. Saint John is caught up to heaven, and sees God on a throne, sur- 
rounded by twenty-four ancients and four wonderful beasts. God holds 


* The unity of the Apocalypse is defended by M. Kohlhofer and Belser. 
Its prophetic character is recognized also by H. B. Swete, “ The Apoca- 
lypse of Saint John,” London, 1906. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 445 


in His hand a book fastened with seven seals (denoting the future), 
which no one but the Lamb can open (iv., v.). One seal after another is 
broken, and each time appears a judgment coming upon mankind for 
the purpose of improving them. After the sixth seal is opened there 
is a great earthquake, so that people believe the last judgment of God 
has come. But a reprieve is granted, as there are still many of the 
elect on earth who are not to perish with the wicked. There then ap- 
pears around the throne of God an innumerable host of people, who owe 
their salvation to Christianity and praise God for it. There are 144,000 
of the Jews, and a countless multitude of Gentile nations (vi., vii.). 
After the seventh seal is opened, seven angels in succession blow trum- 
pets, and fresh plagues come upon the world; but, as soon as they cease, 
sin appears again (viil., ix.). 

Before the seventh trunipet sounds Saint John has three visions: 
(a) He receives further communications in the form of a book that he 
has to swallow (x.); (0b) he has to use a measure to mark off the inner 
part of the Temple from the outer and from the city of Jerusalem. The 
outer part and the city share the fate of unbelievers. (c) Two witnesses 
of God are announced who preach penance. They are slain by the un- 
believers, but raised to life again by God. They are generally believed to 
be Elias and Henoch (xi.). Now the seventh trumpet sounds (xi.—xv.). 
This heralds a struggle between Christ and His enemies, and at the same 
time announces the victory of Christ. 

iii. The enemies of Christ are represented first in types, viz. (a) the 
dragon, (6) the beast with seven heads and ten horns, (c) the beast 
with two horns (xiii.). Ecclesiastical commentators generally under- 
stand by these enemies, (a) the devil, (6) the powers of the world, an- 
_tagonistic to Christ, (c) the prophets of unbelievers with their false 
wisdom. Christ and His followers, especially virginal souls, are op- 
posed to all these, and at once the song of victory is raised (xiv.). 

The conflict of Christ is preceded by the coming of seven angels pour- 
ing vials of God’s wrath upon the earth, thus signifying and heralding 
the last judgment (xv., xvi.). As these also effect no amendment in the 
wicked, the conflict proceeds, having as its aim to execute just vengeance. 
The first to be subdued are the tools of the devil, then the dragon himself. 
Next Babylon, the power of the world antagonistic to Christ, falls, and 
then follows His victory over the beast representing the false prophets 
and wisdom of unbelievers (xvii.—xix.). Finally the dragon is overcome 
and bound for one thousand years, whilst Christ and His followers rule 
On cari (xx, }. 

iv. After one thousand years the dragon is let loose again, and tries 
to stir up the nations against the saints of God, but He overthrows all 
His enemies and casts the devil and the two beasts into a pool of fire. 
Then follows the resurrection and the last judgment. Saint John sees 
at the end a new heaven and a new earth, and the new Jerusalem, i.e. a 
vision of the Church of Christ in glory (xxi., xxil.). 


2. Character and Aim of the Book. The Apocalypse is a 
prophetic book and foretells the future destiny of the Church 


446 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


and the faithful. But just as many of the Old Testament 
prophecies became intelligible only after their fulfillment, so 
it will probably be with those in the Apocalypse. Failing 
special instruction by the infallible teaching authority of the . 
Church, it is scarcely possible to have a perfectly sure com- 
prehension of this book. 


(a) It does not contain an account of events themselves but of their 
types, which admit of various interpretations. (b) We are living in the 
midst of the events foretold in the book; and just as it is scarcely pos- 
sible for each combatant in a war to form an opinion as to the general 
course of it or even of a single battle, so is any complete comprehension 
of the struggles of the Church denied as a rule to individual Christians. 
Moreover (c) many of the events foretold lie still in the future. It 
must not be assumed that all the things foretold are bound to happen 
exactly in the order in which they stand in the book. For instance, in 
chapter xvili. we read of the fall of Babylon, which primarily means 
heathen Rome, but we need not suppose that all the incidents described 
before this chapter belong to the period before the fall of that city, and 
that only those that stand after it belong to the centuries following the 
destruction of the pagan city. We cannot as a rule look for sequence of 
time in prophetic visions. 


Even without special instruction on the part of the Church, 
we can understand much in this book that serves to console 
Shristians in times of persecution, and especially in the period 
preceding the judgment, and to give such consolation is the 
chief aim of the book. 


Stress is laid particularly on the following points: (1) The future is 
determined by God and not by man. (2) The future of man depends on 
Christ and His Church. (3) The various evils of this life are decreed by 
God as a punishment, but also for the amendment of man. (4) God is 
long-suffering, He waits long before He permits the judgment to come. 
(5) Many of the Jews and a countless multitude of the Gentiles will 
attain to eternal salvation through Christianity. (6) The depravity of 
the world will not remain limited to mankind outside the Church, but 
will penetrate even into the Church, that is to say, amongst Christians 
(Jerusalem), but will not injure it in its essential character. (7) 
There are three chief enemies to Christ and His Church: the devil, the 
anti-Christian powers of the world, and false knowledge. (8) The vic- 
tory of Christ and the Church over these enemies is absolutely certain. 
(9) A completely new order of things is to follow the resurrection and 
the last judgment, for heaven and earth are to be transformed and 
glorified as the dwelling place of God’s servants, whilst the wicked are 
cast out. 


THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 447 


3. Author and Authenticity. The Apostle Saint John was 
the author of the Apocalypse. This is plain from internal 
evidence; he calls himself John, speaks of the island of Pat- 
mos as his abode (1. 9)* and occupies the position of pastor 
towards the seven churches of Asia. We have also external 
evidence. Papias, a disciple of the apostles, knew the Apoca- 
lypse and called it the work of Saint John. His writings have 
perished, but his knowledge of the Apocalypse is mentioned in 
the Fathers (Cramer, Catena Patr. Grec., VIII, 360). The tes- 
timony of Justin Martyr? is quite clear, so is that of Hermas * 
and that of Ireneus (Adv. Her., V, xxx. 3). Melito of Sardes 
(circa 150) actually wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse.* 

It was not until a later period that some wished to deny 
Saint John’s authorship. Dionysius of Alexandria, who occu- 
pied Saint Mark’s see from 248 to 265, laid stress on the fact 
that Saint John does not mention himself by name in his other 
writings, and the occurrence of his name here makes the authen- 
ticity of the book doubtful, and suggests that it is the work 
of another author. Eusebius (//ist. Hecl., III, 25) expresses 
himself very vaguely; as a peace-loving bishop, connected with 
the court, he may have disliked the book because it foretold the 
destruction of the Roman Empire. The chief reason, however, 
why the authenticity of the book was questioned, was that the 
Chiliastic doctrines, which found their chief support in the 
Apocalypse (chapter xx.), assumed after the third century a 
more and more heretical tendency. Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrys- 
ostom and Theodoretus did not acknowledge the book, but as 
soon as Chiliasm lost its reputation, as it did chiefly through 
Saint Augustine, all doubt regarding the authenticity of the 
Apocalypse vanished likewise. 

1 According to Pliny (Hist. Nat., IV, 12, 23) Patmos was often 
used by the Romans as a place of exile. 

2 ¢. Tryph., 81: “A man named John, one of the apostles of Christ, 
prophesied in the revelation granted to him of the one thousand years.” 
Eusebius too (Hist. Hecl., IV, 18) says of Justin that he knew and 
recognized the Apocalypse. 

®§ Hermas, who was, according to the Fragm. Mur., brother of Pope 
Pius I (142-157) derives many of the thoughts and expressions in his 


Pastor from the Apocalypse (e.g. Vis., II, 4; IV, 2). 
‘ Euseb., Hist. Eccl., 1V, 26. 


448 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


4, Time and Place. It is generally believed that the book 
was written during the reign of Domitian (81-96), on the 
island of Patmos, where Saint John was then living in exile. 
Irenzeus (1. c.) says: “The revelation was seen not long ago, 
almost in our own time, towards the end of the reign of 
Domitian.” It is assumed therefore that the Apocalypse was 
written about the year 96 (Kaulen, 271; A. Schafer, 353). 

5. It seems, as Kaulen remarks, a special dispensation of 
Providence that at the end of Holy Scripture stands a book 
in which a new heaven and a new earth are placed in our 
anticipation, whereas at the beginning of the Bible the account 
is given of the creation of heaven and earth. Genesis and the 
Apocalypse correspond to one another; the one depicts the 
happiness of the first human beings in their intercourse with 
God, the other contains the promise of a new Paradise. 


FOURTH PART 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 
(HERMENEUTICS) 
1. INTRODUCTION 


HE name “ Hermeneutics” ( épunvevtixy sc. Téxvn) comes 
from épynvevev == to interpret, expound, and designates 
the art of making plain a writer’s meaning. 

There is the more need to expound a writer the more remote — 
he is in time and place from his readers, and the more the 
opinions and circumstances of his age and country differ from 
their own. 

The fifty-eight books that the Catholic Church reverences as 
sacred, have this in common with other ancient writing that 
they were composed in foreign languages, now long dead, and 
written under circumstances of time ahd place differing greatly 
from our own. The figurative language of the East, and espe- 
cially of the ancient East, is strange to us, and the numerous 
illustrations derived from Hastern people are frequently unin- 
telligible to those who live in the colder West under another 
sky. Hence the comprehension of these sacred books is subject 
to quite other conditions than those governing our appreciation 
of modern authors, and it is often impossible without special 
elucidation. 

Not only is an explanation of Holy Scripture indispensable 
from this merely human aspect of it, but we must remember 
that its divine origin raises it above the average human judg- 
ment, that is often obscured by our passions. It is only when 
a man allows himself to be guided by the same Spirit who 
called the sacred books into existence, that they become intel- 
ligible to him. The Holy Ghost inspires not each individual 
reader, but is ever active in the Church, the pillar and strong- 


450 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


hold of truth. If, therefore, an individual desires rightly to 
understand and interpret Holy Scripture, he must find out 
the opinion of the Church, and be guided by it. 

By biblical hermeneutics we mean the sum total of all those 
principles and rules in accordance with which the sense of 
Holy Scripture, both in its human and its divine aspect, can 
be ascertained and expounded. 

We have to ask: What are we to understand by the meaning 
of Holy Scripture, how is it to be discovered, and how ex- 
plained when discovered? Our subject therefore falls into three 
divisions : 

The meaning of Holy Scripture. 
The discovery of the true meaning of Holy Scripture. 
The explanation of the text of Holy Scripture. 


C2 2D ee 


Hermeneutics differs from exegesis in the same way as theory from 
practice. 


FIRST SECTION- 
THE MEANING OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 


The meaning of Holy Scripture is its true signification, or 
what the Holy Ghost intended to reveal through the written 
word. The meaning of the text must not everywhere be limited 
to the literal meaning, as underlying the letter many a mystery 
is often concealed. ‘There is therefore more than one meaning 
of the written word. 


2. OF THE MEANING IN GENERAL OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 


The Fathers and scholastic writers both distinguish a twofold 
sense in Holy Scripture: the literal and the mystical, — sensus 
literalis and sensus spiritualis sive mysticus. 

1. The literal sense is that which the actual words directly 
convey. This is again twofold, viz. (a) the precise and (0d) 
the transferred or metaphorical sense. 

The precise literal sense is that which the written words, 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 451 


taken in their own exact signification, convey, e.g. Gal. iv. 22: 
“Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman and the 
other by a free woman.” ‘The literal metaphorical sense is 
that which the words directly convey when taken figuratively. 
When, for instance, in Holy Scripture, our Lord is called a 
lion, a lamb or a vine, this is obviously meant not strictly but 
figuratively, as properties are ascribed or transferred to Him 
which we know a hon, a lamb or a vine to possess. These 
designations denote generosity and courage, readiness to be 
sacrificed, and abundance of life on the part of our Saviour. 

2. The literal sense is frequently only the body of the writ- 
ten word, under which the soul or spiritus is concealed. The 
spiritual or mystical sense is that which resides not in the 
words themselves, but is suggested more or less obscurely by 
means of the things signified by the words. It is called mys- 
tical or mysterious, because it is not plain to view on the 
surface, but is more hidden, and generally more difficult to 
discover than the literal sense. So Galatians iv. 22, the pas- 
sage quoted above, is explained by Saint Paul allegorically of the 
two testaments: Agar, Ismael =the Old Testament; Sara, Isaac 
_==the New Testament. 

The older theological writers distinguish three kinds of this 
mystical or spiritual sense, viz. an allegorical, a tropological 
and an anagogical. 

The allegorical meaning is the reference of some discourse 
or account in the Bible to a doctrine of the faith, especially to 
Christ and the Church. If any section of Holy Scripture, in 
addition to the obvious, literal meaning (for the mystical sense 
always depends upon the literal, and proceeds from it),+ admits 
or requires some reference to Christ or the Church, then the 
passage possesses, over and above the literal meaning, also a 
higher and mystical sense, which is called allegorical. Thus, 
for instance, the story of the rescue of Jonas from the sea is 
not to be limited to the prophet, but, according to Matthew xii. 
39, refers also to our Lord’s rest in the grave and Resurrection. 

The tropological or moral meaning is the application of a 


* Leo XIII., Encycl. Providentissimus, supra, p. 167. 


452 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


passage to moral life, whilst the obvious and literal interpre- 
tation gives another meaning. Thus Genesis xv. 6, “ Abram 
believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice,” has, 
according to Romans iy. 23, reference also to the necessity that 
mankind should believe in Christ. 

The anagogical sense of a passage is the application that it 
allows to the future life, over and above its obvious and im- 
mediate meaning. Thus, according to Matthew xxiv. 37 and 
I Peter iii. 20, the account in Genesis of the ark may be applied 
also to the faithful who find salvation in the Church. 

We may say, therefore, that the allegorical interpretation 
concerns faith; the tropological, morals; and the anagogical, 
hope; or the allegorical is de rebus credendis, the tropological 
de rebus agendis and the anagogical de rebus sperandis. 'The 
allegorical may be said to be based upon the past, the tropo- 
logical refers to the present, and the anagogical points to the 
future of the faithful. This is all summed up shortly in the 
lines: 


Litera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria, 
Moralis [sc. sensus] quid agas, quo tendas anagogia. 


This fourfold interpretation may be found, for instance, in the 
word Jerusalem or Sion. 

It is de fide that there is really a mystical meaning to Holy 
Scripture, for Jesus Christ and the apostles have given mystical 
explanations of many passages. Thus our Saviour gave a 
mystical meaning to the story of Jonas by applying it to Himself. 
The apostle Saint John (xix. 36), in saying that our Saviour’s 
bones were not broken on the Cross, refers to Exodus xu. 46, 
where it is forbidden to break a bone of the Paschal lamb. As 
stated above, in Galatians iv. 24, Saint Paul declares Agar and 
Sara, Ismael and Isaac to be representatives of the Old and 
New Covenants. 


The early Christians were plainly instructed in the mystical or typi- 
cal meaning of the Bible by the first preachers of the faith. In the 
catacombs in Rome, which served the Christians of the earliest ages as 
places of assembly and worship, Noe is often represented as one person 
in a floating chest; for, according to I Peter iii. 20, every Christian is 
saved from destruction by means of baptism, as Noe was saved from the 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 453 


flood. Abraham’s sacrifice is often depicted in such a way that Pilate 
appears as judge, for that sacrifice was a type of the death of Christ on 
the cross. (Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, 1895, VII, 140, etc.). 

The Jews too had, and still have, a method of interpreting Holy Scrip- 
ture in a spiritual sense. It is called the Midrash (= investigation), and 
is an explanation that goes beyond the literal meaning. They give the 
name Midrash, however, only to those commentaries which go back to 
the period of the old schools in Palestine and Babylon, that is, between 
the second and the eleventh centuries. In the Midrashim they distin- 
guish the Halacha (M1320, way, direction, rule of conduct) and the Hag- 
gada (iW, story, saying). The Halacha is the authoritative explana- 
tion, given originally by a high priest, or by the synedrium or by the 
scribes in the schools, and so it embodies a tradition affecting manners 
and mode of life. The Haggada does not possess this official character, 
and is the work of private individuals, expressing private opinions. In 
tne Haggada the mystical interpretation is prominent. 


3. OFr THE APPLICATION OF THE LITERAL AND 
MysticaL MEANING 


1. Only the literal meaning can, as a rule, be used by theo- 
logians in proof of doctrinal or moral truths. The reason for 
this is that the explanation of a passage in the mystical sense 
depends in a great degree upon personal opinions and the feel- 
ings of the individual. The right with which one person claims 
to explain some passage of the Bible in the mystical sense can 
be claimed by another for the purpose of overthrowing such ar 
explanation. 

The case, however, is different when the Church has pro- 
nounced in favor of the mystical interpretation of some passage, 
or when Holy Scripture or the consensus of the Fathers un- 
mistakably requires a mystical explanation. In these circum- 
stances the mystical meaning constitutes valid evidence, as it 
is then clear that the Holy Ghost has intended that there 
should be a mystical meaning, and that therefore God’s word 
is stated mystically. Thus Deuteronomy xxv. 4 serves to prove 
the right on the part of ministers of the gospel to ask and 
accept their support from the faithful, because Saint Paul in- 
terprets it thus in I Corinthians ix. 9. The same remark ap- 
ples to Genesis vill. (cf. I Peter iii. 20). 

2. It is not every passage in Holy Scripture that contains 


454 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


a mystical sense. Clement of Alexandria, Origen and the 
Alexandrian exegetical writers in general went too far in this 
respect,’ and tried to extract a mystical sense from almost 
every passage in the Bible. ‘lo some extent Saint Ambrose 
and Saint Gregory the Great did the same.? The school of 
Antioch,® the chief representative of which was Saint John 
Chrysostom, did not go to such extravagant length. What 
kind of mystical meaning can be discovered in sentences such 
as: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,’ “Thou shalt not 
kill,” ete.? In the same way it would be wrong to assume 
that any passage in Holy Scripture possessed only a mystical, 
and not a literal meaning.* Even the Canticle of Canticles 
admits primarily of a literal interpretation, although it would 
be wrong to stop short at it. Not a book nor a passage in 
Holy Scripture can be mentioned in which no literal sense 
at all is discoverable. 

3. Not only in the Old, but also in the New Testament, can 
we find a mystical sense. Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us 
(Summa, I, qu. 1, art. 10): Nova lex est figura future gloria, 
— ‘The new law is a type of future glory.” In the same 
way Saint John Chrysostom said that Christ fulfilled the old 
prophecies, but at the same time brought in others and by His 
works signified what was in prospect (Hom. in Matt. 66). A 
type of this kind is, for instance, His crucifixion outside Jeru- 
salem, which signified the cutting off of Christianity and Sal- 
vation from Judaism, according to Hebrews xii. 12. Accord- 


1 Scholz thinks that they followed the Jewish school, but this is not 
correct, for they had more resemblance with the pagan philosophers who 
gave a mystical interpretation to the stories of the gods. 

* Saint Ambrose, after he had unexpectedly become bishop, having 
had no theological training, apphed himself zealously to the study of 
Holy Scripture. As he knew Greek well, he took as his guides Philo and 
Origen, from whom he derived his tendency to mystical interpretations, 
but to some extent he followed Basilius, who belonged to the school of 
Antioch. In his commentary on the book of Job, Saint Gregory the 
Great almost restricted himself to the allegorical and moral sense, 

* To it belonged also Theodore of Mopsuestia, who is too sober, even 
dry and rationalistic, in his interpretations, and his orthodox brother 
Polychronius. 

* See Origen’s opinion, supra, p. 192. 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 455 


ing to Matthew xxiy., the destruction of Jerusalem seems to 
be a type of the last judgment. 


Dr. A. von Scholz,t Professor of Old Testament Exegesis at the Uni- 
versity of Wiirzburg, thought he could vindicate the Bible “in the eyes 
of the learned and cultured classes” by giving an allegorical interpre- 
tation to most of the books in the Old Testament. In his rectoral ad- 
dress of the year 1893 and in his very carefully elaborated commenta- 
ries, he opened up new lines to Catholic exegesis, which, if they were 
correct, would lead to the solution of many of the problems in the Old 
Testament. According to Scholz there are but few strictly historical 
books; almost all are allegories regarding the struggle between the 
kingdom of God and His enemies. “ The Oriental always speaks in alle- 
gories. Our Saviour Himself mostly gave His instruction in parables.” * 
He believes the whole of the Old Testament to be the work of a school 
in the far East, employed in collecting and multiplying the sacred books. 
* Tsaias and Jeremias are a collection made by this school; Ezechiel was 
a member of it, and so he is the sole author of his book. The book of 
Daniel originated there also; his name designates not a statesman, but 
the Messias among His people. Joel, Abdias, Habakuk, Nahum? and 
Jonas were all compiled after the Captivity, as well as Zacharias, Mala- 
chias and almost all the Psalms. Joel’s grasshoppers are nations. Haba- 
kuk mentions the Chaldeans; these first destroyers of Jerusalem represent 
the last enemies of God’s kingdom. The reference is the same in Nahum’s 
Ninive and Abdias’ Edom. Jonas is none other than the Messias; the 
book of that name does not profess to have been written by Jonas, but to 
give an account of him. The problem of Qohelit (Ecclesiastes) is solved 
in Is. xlix. 4; Qohelit is the Messias, who has labored in vain, at least 
as far as many are concerned, and whose kingdom will be attacked and 
apparently suppressed, as He was Himself.” The grammatical and his- 
torical interpretation must also to a great extent be given up. ‘“ Can- 
ticle of Canticles and Tobias, for instance, belong together, as both deal 
with the same subject, the final conversion of Israel. The same relation 
exists between Threni and Job. Judith can be proved not historical. 
Esther, Daniel, Ruth, Tobias, Bel and the Dragon are fantastic stories, 
incredible in the highest degree, but in reality allegories.” 

There are many serious arguments against these hypotheses. A few 
may be mentioned here: 

1. Will the “learned and cultured classes” put more faith in these 
uncertain allegories than in the historical opinions? 


1 The following remarks are made with all deference to the zeal and 
learning of this eminent man, but the matter is much discussed at the 
present day, and some mention of it seems necessary in a book of this 
kind. It is only fair to say emphatically that Dr. Scholz aimed at noth- 
ing but serving the Church. He died in 1908. 

* It should be noticed that our Lord’s parables are always easily rec- 
ognizable as teachings; they do not profess to be historical (such as 
Judith, Tobias, Esther, etc.). 

* Happel and Dornstetter hold similar opinions. 


456 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


2. If all this be true, who would be in a position to expound the 
sacra@d books to the masses? And yet these books are intended for the 
instruction of the simplest people, as God’s word is always to be made 
known. Or is our Lord’s teaching alone the word of God, and not also 
the Old Testament? Cf. Heb. i. 1. 

3. Christ speaks of Jonas as an historical person, and contrasts him 
with Himself (Matt. xii. 40, 41). “A greater than Jonas here!” “ As 
Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights, so shall 
the son of man be in the heart of the earth.” Or are we perhaps to 
give an allegorical interpretation to the account of our Saviour’s rest 
in the grave also? 

4. The headings of the Psalms, derived from Hebrew tradition, can- 
not be simply discarded. 

5. Josephus Flavius regards the books of Esther, Daniel, etc., as his- 
torical, and so supplies evidence regarding Jewish tradition and exegesis 
in the first century A. D. 

6. The feast of Purim and the feast in honor 6f Judith’s victory 
(Judith xvi. 31) testify to the ‘historical character of the books of 
Esther and Judith. 

7. In the Church, the exaggerated allegorical interpretation of the 
Old Testament, due to Origen and the exegetical school of Alexandria, 
found no favor, although the Alexandrian scholars did not even occupy 
themselves with the distant future. 

8. The order of the Canon, as well as exegetical tradition in the 
Church, undoubtedly favors the historical view. Neither the Fathers nor 
later commentators know anything of the theory of so extensive an alle- 
gory. Of. the encyclical of Leo XIII. 

9. Has not a dread of the miraculous had something to do with the 
origin and development of these hypotheses? ‘‘ The miraculous in the 
history of theocracy, including that of the sacred books, is not exterior, 
but interior. Omnis gloria eius, filie regis, ab intus. (Rectoral oration, 
p. 35.) Where, however, is the limit to be drawn? Are Cain and Abel, 
Noe, Melchisedech and Samson not historical? Is not the brazen ser- 
pent historical? or the manna? Is everything merely allegorical? And 
what are we to say of the miracles of the New Testament, some of which 
are not less striking? Are we to give only a symbolical meaning to 
Christ’s walking on the sea, to the multiplication of the loaves, and, 
finally, even to His calling the dead to life? 

10. If these hypotheses were correct, all our catechisms of the Catho- 
lic religion and all our handbooks of Christian doctrine for schools and 
colleges would have to be withdrawn and revised. Our children at school 
must no longer be taught “ Bible History ” as the truth, but it must be 
explained to them as a collection of fictions. In the same way the 
Archangel Raphael’s name must be removed from the liturgy, for the 
Church says, on October 24: Deus, qui Raphaelem archangelum Tobie, 
famulo tuo, comitem dedisti in via... 

11. Is it conceivable that the Holy Ghost in the Church should have 
kept the true meaning concealed for so many centuries, and only have 
allowed it to be discevered in our time? 

12. The Old Testament with its many types has in the main been 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 457 
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. See Luke xxiv. 27: “ And beginning at Moses 
and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the 
things that were concerning him.” The Old Testament is the shadow 
of the New; but now all is relegated to a misty distance, — almost all 
the Old Testament is supposed to deal with the end of God’s kingdom. 
Is not, however, the Church of Christ now present with us, the final 
kingdom of God? Fond as Saint Ambrose is of allegories, he generally 
limits them to Christ and the Church; so, for instance, he interprets 
the story of Isaac and Rebecca with reference to Christ and the faith- 
ful soul. Origen even, who often goes much too far in his allegorical 
explanations, sees in the fall of the walls of Jericho only an indication 
of the success of the apostles’ preaching. We do not deny that in the 
Old, as well as in the New Testament, there are allusions to the final des- 
tiny of the Church and of the faithful, e.g. Is. xxiv.-xxviii.; Dan. xii.; 
but such allusions are so clear and unmistakable, that there can be no 
doubt as to the writer’s intention. It is very questionable whether this 
free interpretation of the sacred books is in accordance with the Biblical 
Commission of June 23, 1905. (See Bibl. Ztschr., 1905, p. 443.) 


4. Or ACCOMMODATION 


1. By accommodation! we understand an explanation by 
means of which a passage of Scripture, without regard to its 
real meaning, is, by a kind of extension or reference, applied 
to something quite foreign to the mind of the sacred writer. 


For instance: The words in Ecclus. xliv. 17, Noe inventus est jus- 
tus, are applied by accommodation to other holy men also. Again, 
Lament. iv. 4, Parvuli petierunt panem, et non erat qui frangeret eis, 
is often taken to be a play upon words, and applied to the Christian edu- 
cation of the young. Esther v. 12: Htiam cras cum rege pransurus 
sum is referred to the daily sacrifice; Psalm Ixvii. 36, Mirabilis Deus in 
sanctis suis means in the original “ Wonderful [or fearful] is God in 
the sanctuary [of the Temple],” but in the translation it can be applied 
to the saints. 


This sort of interpretation is neither directly nor indirectly 
motived by the Holy Ghost, and has no divine authority; 
hence it can never be used as a foundation for any proof. 

Nevertheless it may be used for purposes of edification, for 


* Accommodation is generally called sensus accommodatitius, but 
Cornely rightly points out (Comp., 127) that we ought not to speak of 
an applied sense, as the word sense always refers to the intention in the 
mind of the writer, and that is not present in this case. 


& 


458 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


it occurs in Holy Scripture itself, and is used by the Church 
and the Fathers. 


For instance in the Breviary the words which in Ecclus. xliv. 20 refer 
to Abraham, Non est inventus similis illi, qui conservaret legem Eacelst, 
are applied to every Confessor Pontiff. 


2. There are limitations to the use of accommodation, and 
the following conditions must be fulfilled: 

(a) Such an interpretation must not be declared to be the 
true meaning of a passage. 

(b) It may be applied only in a pious manner, so that there 
is no lack of the reverence due to Holy Scripture. It would 
be a misuse of God’s word to-.apply passages of it to profane 
things or in jest. This is expressly forbidden by the Council 
of Trent (Sessio 4), and bishops are required to punish, if 
need be, any who act in a contrary way.* 

(c) If we read in Holy Scripture that this or that was done 
“in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,’ we must not 
understand this by way of accommodation, but either accord- 
ing to the literal sense (sensus literalis), if anything that had 
been foretold actually occurred, or according to the mystical 
sense (sensus mysticus), if some type was realized. 


For instance, in Matt. xxvii. 35 is a quotation from Ps. xxi. 19: 
“They divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they 
east lots.’ We must not say that the verse of the Psalm is applicable 
to our Saviour, and can be used in reference to Him, but we must believe 
that the Holy Ghost, through the Psalmist, was indicating an event in 
the Passion of the Messias. 


* (S. Synodus) temeritatem illam reprimere volens, qua ad profana 
queque convertuntur et torquentur verba et sententie@ sacre scripture, 
ad scurrilia scilicet, fabulosa, vana, adulationes . .. mandat et precipit 
ad tollendam huiusmodi irreverentiam et contemptum, ne de cetero 
quisquam verba s. scripture ad hee et similia audeat wsurpare, ut 
omnes huius generis homines temeratores et violatores Dei iuris et 
arbitrit penis per episcopos coerceantur. 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 459 


SECOND SECTION 


OF DISCOVERING THE MEANING OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 


( Heuristics) 


The use of biblical criticism is essential to a true knowledge of Scrip- 
ture. We may distinguish the lower and the higher criticism. The 
former is concerned with examining and, if need be, with correcting the 
text. As in course of time, even unintentionally, some corruption of the 
text may have occurred, we have to try to discover the correct readings, 
by the assistance of early manuscripts, ancient translations and quota- 
tions in the works of the Fathers (supra, p. 222, etc.). Higher criticism 
deals with the age, origin, authenticity and purity of the sacred books. 
It is aided less by so-called internal evidence than by historical testi- 
mony, although the former may often be adduced in confirmation of the 
latter. 

That form of criticism is erroneous which refuses to recognize any- 
thing supernatural, and therefore desires to eliminate as spurious 
whatever appears miraculous or prophetie. 

Moral considerations must also be kept in view. Whoever wishes to 
comprehend the meaning of Holy Scripture must have a good intention 
and moral purity, for “wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, 
nor dwell in a body subject to sins ” (Wisd. i. 4), and he must also have 
humility, for “ where humility is, there also is wisdom” (Prov. xi. 2). 
Reading and study of the sacred books are no less necessary, as Sirach 
says in the prologue to Ecclesiasticus; and lastly, he must pray for 
understanding: quod est precipuum et maxime necessarium, orent ut 
inteligant (Aug., De Doctr. Chr., UI, 37). 


The rules to be observed in trying to discover the correct 
meaning of Holy Scripture are partly taken from instructions 
given by the Church, and partly proceed from certain peculatri- 
ties of the sacred books. 


5. PRINCIPLES LAID DOWN BY THE CHURCH 


Divine revelation itself indicates how we may attain to a cor- 
rect knowledge of the meaning of Scripture. In II Peter 1. 
2 we find the following statement: Hoc primum tintellrgentes, 
quod omnis prophetia scripture propria interpretatione non 
fit. Non enim voluntate humana allata est aliquando prophetia, 
sed Smritu sancto inspirati locuti sunt sancti Der homines. 


460 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


“ Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by 
private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at 
any time, but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy 
Ghost.” 


In these words the apostle intends to deny to the individual 
the right to interpret the prophecies in the Bible according to 
his private judgment.’ He bases this prohibition upon the 
inspiration of the prophets, who were, he says, influenced by 
the Holy Spirit when they uttered their prophecies. For this 
reason whoever reads and studies Scripture must not stop short, 
when he is trying to discover the meaning, at what the writ- 
ings of the prophets appear to him, in his private opinion, to 
convey; but he must go further, and have regard to the Holy 
Ghost working in the prophets. As the same Holy Ghost still 
guides the Church and protects her from error, and as the 
Holy Scriptures are the property of the Church, it follows 
chat they can be rightly understood only in and by means 
»f the Church. The apostle is speaking, it is true, only of 
the prophetic books, but by analogy his words apply equally 
to the historical, poetical and didactic books. They are all 
the work of the Holy Ghost that brings about their compre- 
hension no less than their origin. ‘The apostle’s rule was 
developed and explained by the Council of Trent (Sess. 4) in 
the following decision: S. Synodus decermt ut nemo sue pru- 
dentie inmaus sacram scripturam ad suos sensus cantorquens 
contra eum sensum, quem tenurt et tenet s. mater ecclesia, curus 
est wdicare de vero sensu et interpretatione scripturarum sanc- 
tarum, aut etiam contra unanimen consensum Patrum tpsam 
scripturam sacram interpretari audeat.? 


1 It would be possible to refer the words propria interpretatione to 
the prophet, in which case Saint Peter would mean that it was not the 
prophet, who by his own insight and penetration perceived and made 
known the future, but the spirit of God influenced him to do so. But 
interpretatio, Gk. éri\vdiis = solution, implies that something is given, 
and does not mean penetration. If it did, the two sentences would 
be tautological. 

* Almost the same language was used by the Vatican Council of 1870, 
Sess. 3, cap. 2. Particular stress, however, is laid on the fact that this 
rule applies especially in rebus fidei et morum 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 461 


“The holy synod declares that no one relying on his own judgment 
shall dare to wrest * Holy Scripture in accordance with his opinion, con- 
trary to that which our holy Mother the Church held and still holds, 
for to her does it belong to decide upon the true meaning and interpre- 
tation of Holy Scripture; nor shall any one dare to expound the same 
Holy Scripture in a way contrary to the unanimous decision of the 
Fathers.” 


In this decree we must notice first of all that “it belongs to 
the Church to decide upon the meaning and interpretation of 
Holy Scripture.” This is a fundamental principle, containing 
three important rules, which have been observed in the Church 
from the beginning, not only since the Council of Trent. The 
Council merely gave expression to the tradition of the Church 
on this point. 

1. It is a fundamental principle of Protestantism that each 
person may and must read and interpret Holy Scripture ac- 
cording to his own subjective judgment, but in the Church it 
is forbidden to regard one’s own opinions as the sole standard 
in examining Scripture. No one is allowed sue prudentie 
mmniti, in contradiction to the Church, for private judgment is 
fallible, but the Church is infallible, for the Holy Ghost was not 
given to each individual but to the whole Church. 

2. The hermeneutist may never go beyond the limits which 
the Church, guided by the Spirit of God, has set to her teach- 
ing; if he lights upon an interpretation not agreeing with 
the doctrines of the Church, he must recognize it to be false, 
for the Holy Ghost cannot contradict Himself. For the same 
reason the commentator may never contradict that particular 
interpretation which the Church has ever maintained to be the 
correct interpretation of a passage. 

3. The hermeneutist in examining the meaning of Scripture 
must not depart from the unanimous decision of the Fathers, 
and he must not pronounce an interpretation to be correct 
that is at variance with the consensus unanimis Patrum. The 
consensus of the Fathers is nothing but the expression of the 
view taken by the Church. Where all the Fathers are agreed, 
there we undoubtedly have the apostolic tradition and the 


1 Contorqueo = to give anything a forced turn. 


462 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


opinion of the Church. When the Fathers are not all agreed 
regarding the meaning of a passage, we are free to adopt 
whichever opinion we prefer, provided that the teaching author- 
ity in the Church has not decided the matter. 

These rules involve no limitation of a reasonable use of 
human liberty. For (1) nothing more is required than that 
man shall submit his opinion to the Holy Ghost, who guides 
the Church. (2) Holy Scripture is not something apart from, 
or superior to, but of the Church, i.e. it belongs to the Church, 
to which Jesus Christ intrusted the whole of revelation, to 
make it known to mankind. Holy Scripture stands and falls 
with the Church. The contents of Holy Scripture are thus 
nothing but the written doctrine of the Church, whose right 
and duty it is to watch over it, so that human passion and 
prejudice may not foist upon it an interpretation contrary to 
her former teaching. 


As soon as the Bible is separated from the Church, it ceases to be 
respected. This is plainly to be seen in the case of the more recent sects. 
The Reformers wished to recognize the Bible, and not the authority of 
the Church, and their adherents followed them. But the consequence 
was that Holy Scripture has gradually lost all value amongst them, and 
at the present time many learned Protestants regard it merely as the 
work of men, and consequently in their opinion it is no longer the 
word of God. They have rejected the idea of inspiration, and now argue 
only about the letter of the book. 


6. HERMENEUTICAL RULES BASED ON THE PECULIAR 
CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE 


In so far as the Bible is the work of men, it has many 
properties in common with other ancient books, but as God is 
its author, it has also certain peculiarities belonging to it alone, 
as the book of revelation. The student of Holy Scripture 
has therefore to observe the following rules: 


+ “T should not believe the gospel itself, unless the authority of the 
Catholic Church induced me to do so” (Saint Augustine). 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 463 


A. On the Human Side 


1. He must carefully attend to the connection, both gram- 
matical and logical. Both kinds of connection must be kept 
in view at the same time, and be used to make good one an- 
other’s deficiences. This is particularly important for the Old 
Testament. In Hebrew the subject frequently changes; the 
numerous particles employed in Western languages are want- 
ing; the verb has only the perfect and future tenses; there 
are frequent ellipses, etc. Thus the connection can often be 
restored only by means of the laws of logic. 

2. Of still greater importance is it to observe the usage of 
the language. We mean by this the sense of a word, expres- 
sion or sentence which at the time of some definite author was 
generally assigned to it. 

In order to learn the usage of a language, we must have 
recourse to witnesses, taking as such the other authors who 
wrote in the language of that particular writer whom we desire 
to explain. Witnesses may be classified as direct and indirect. 
Direct witnesses are authors who used the same language as 
their native tongue, at about the same period. Indirect wit- 
nesses are those who used the same language only in kindred 
dialects or at another period. 

The following rules hold good with regard to the witnesses 
for the usage of the language in the Bible: 

(a) We cannot trace any great changes in the development 
of Hebrew as we know it in the Bible.t We find nearly the 
same language in all the books of the Old Testament; Genesis 
differs very little from Malachias in language. For this reason 
all the Old Testament writers are direct witnesses to one 
another. The same is true of the Greek text of the Septuagint, 
which almost all belongs to the same period. 

(b) The language of the New Testament is based to a great 


‘ The long seclusion of the people of Israel and the respect of later 
writers for the Mosaic law, were two causes of the preservation of 
Hebrew. (Cf., however, p. 270, (e).) In the same way Arabic changed 
very little for several centuries, because the Koran was regarded as the 
model of style. 


464 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


extent upon that of the Septuagint version of the Old. A 
writer of the Septuagint is regarded, therefore, as a direct 
witness for the Greek New Testament, and vice versa. All 
the writers of the New Testament are direct witnesses to one 
another, as they all wrote about the same time, viz. in the 
first century. 

(c) The earlier Greek Fathers may be used as direct wit- 
nesses for the New Testament and the Septuagint, because they 
copied the language of the Septuagint and the New Testament. 
The Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic writers are indirect witnesses, 
and so are the later Greek Fathers and the Greek profane 
authors. 

3. Parallel passages of the sacred books serve to throw lhght 
on the usage of the language. In order to discover these more 
easily, use is made of biblical concordances, which are either 
concordances of words or of subjects. 3 

The former give, in alphabetical order, stating chapter and 
verse, all the places where some particular word occurs in the 
Bible. The latter do not notice the words, but they state, in 
a series of articles arranged alphabetically, all that is to be 
found, scattered up and down the Bible, on certain subjects, 
such as baptism, sacrifice, prayer, Juda, Sion, etc. Verbal 
concordances have been made for the Hebrew as well as for 
the Greek and Latin texts of the Bible.* 


1 The best verbal concordances are: of the Hebrew text, Buxtorf, 
Bale, 1632. This important work, revised by Fiirst and Bir, is even sur- 
passed by the Hebr.-Chald. Konkordanz des Alten Testaments, by Sal. 
Mandelkern, Leipzig, 1896. . 

Of the Septuagint, there is Tromm’s Concordance, Amsterdam, 1718, 
and an excellent new one by Hatch and Redpath, 6 parts, Oxford, 1897, 
in which reference is made also to other early Greek versions. Another 
concordance to the proper names in the Septuagint was also published 
in Oxford. Of the Vulgate there is a useful concordance by Fr. Lucas, 
Antwerp, 1618, ete. An abbreviated concordance of the Vulgate, in- 
tended especially for preachers, was brought out by Cornaert, Ratisbon, 
1897. Based upon the very useful Manuale concord. by P. de Raze, is 
the comprehensive Thesaurus concord. scr. s., compiled by Peultier, Eti- 
enne and Gantois, Ratisbon, 1898. 

Of subject concordances we may mention Calmet, Lexicon biblicum ; 
Lueg, Realkonkordanz (5th ed., 1900); Winer (Prot.), Bibl. Wérter- 
buch; Riehm, Bibel-Lexikon; Guthe, Kurzes Bibelwérterbuch (both 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 465 


B. On the Divine Side 


4. We must notice the relation in which the two Testa- 
ments stand to one another. The Old Testament is to be 
regarded as prefiguring what was to come through and after 
Christ, as the wmbra futurorum bonorum (Heb. x. 1; Col. 1. 
7). It is connected with the New Testament as the bud with 
the blossom, as the announcement with the fulfillment, as the 
shadow with the light. Therefore one Testament cannot be 
properly understood without reference to the other (see H. 
Weiss, Messian. Vorbilder im A. T., Feb., 1905). 

5. Here and there in the New Testament passages are quoted. 
from the Old, which cannot be found there in precisely the 
same form. We need not think that the text has been tam- 
pered with; ancient writers generality quoted according to the 
sense, disregarding verbal accuracy. On account of the rarity 
and costliness of manuscripts, it was not always possible to 
verify quotations. Many are therefore inaccurate from our 
point of view, but they are not falsified on that account (e. g. 
Matt. 1. 23; John vii. 38, quoted roughly from Is. xliv. 1-3). 

6. We must not be offended by anthropomorphic expressions, 
which seem to us out of keeping with our conception of God. It 
is with a well-considered design that Holy Scripture speaks of 
God as of a Being resembling man, and ascribes to Him a 
face, eyes, ears, mouth, hands, feet and the senses of smell 
and hearing. This is done out of consideration for man’s power 
of comprehension; and the same is the case when the Bible 


Prot.). Also a large but still unfinished work by Vigouroux, Diction- 
naire de la Bible, Paris; and an English (Prot.) Dictionary of the Bible 
by James Hastings, Edinburgh, 1898-1902, 4 vols., with an extra volume 
published in 1904; the Encyclopedia Biblica by Cheyne and Sutherland 
Black, 4 vols., London, 1903. See also the article Bibelkonkordanzen in 
the Kirchenlexikon, II, 636. 

1 §. Aug. qu. 30 in Exod.: In veteri testamento novum latet; im novo 
testamento vetus patet. In Luke xxiv. 44, 46, 47, our Lord says to the 
apostles: “ All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the 
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. . . . 
Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again 
from the dead the third day: and that penance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” 


466 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


represents God as loving or hating, as jealous, angry, glad 
or filled with regret, dispositions which apply to God not per 
affectum but per effectum. They show us that God is not 
coldly indifferent to loyalty or disloyalty on the part of men, 
but notices them well. Moreover we must not forget that man 
is made in the likeness of God, and that therefore in the 
divine Being there must be something analogous to the quali- 
ties of men, though in the highest perfection. 


THIRD SECTION 


EXPLANATIONS OF THE TEXT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 


As early as the times of the Fathers much attention was 
paid to expounding the sacred books, as a powerful means for 
furthering the knowledge and piety of the faithful and for 
warding off heresies. Every one knows how much Origen, Saint 
John Chrysostom, Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Augus- 
tine and Saint Gregory the Great contributed to the elucida- 
tion of Holy Scripture. The same activity has continued in 
every century, and various methods of explanation have been 
developed. It is usual to distinguish four kinds of interpre- 
tation, viz. paraphrases, scholia, glosses and commentaries. 
Every age has produced paraphrases, but scholia belong to the 
time of the Fathers, glosses to the Middle Ages, and com- 
mentaries to the present day. 


Explanations in the form of homilies were usual particularly in the 
time of the Fathers, and were intended not only to supply a practical 
need, but to promote a better understanding of Scripture. They would 
be well adapted for the present time. Saint John Chrysostom and Saint 
Augustine have left us models of this method of exegesis. 


% PARAPHRASES 


A paraphrase of Holy Scripture is the method of explaining 
the meaning of the words, which, while retaining the consecutive 
language of the author, inserts in his text whatever may conduce 
to its elucidation. Explanations such as seem serviceable are put 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 467 


into the author’s mouth, and his statements are expanded, so 
that he is made to elucidate himself. 


The essential qualities of a good paraphrase are: 

(1) Fidelity. If any one seeks information from a paraphrase, he 
wishes to learn from it the author’s meaning and not the paraphrast’s 
subjective opinions. Every deviation from the true meaning and con- 
tents of the language of a sacred writer would be a fraud practiced on 
the reader. 

(2) Intelligibility. The measure of this quality is determined by the 
amount of education possessed by those for whom the paraphase is in- 
tended. It must therefore be more or less detailed, as it is intended for 
uneducated or educated readers. As a general rule in a paraphrase (@) 
unintelligible and unfamiliar expressions are replaced by words in ordi- 
nary use; (b) where the meaning is obscure, it must be expressed clearly 
in accordance with the rules of hermeneutics; (c) where there is an 
obvious omission, it must be supplied by a short interpolation. 

(3) Dignified diction. The paraphrast must use stately language, 
doing his best to adapt it to the words of the original, so that the simple 
and dignified character of Holy Scripture is not destroyed. All words 
and phrases used only in the vulgar language of everyday life must 
be avoided, because reverence for the word of God ought to appear equally 
in the paraphrase. 


8. ScHOLIA 


Scholia are short notes on the text of a book, and they 
exist on that of the Bible. They deal with the whole text, 
and in this way differ from glosses, which single out for ex- 
planation only particular words and phrases. They differ 
from commentaries by their brevity and conciseness, and by 
their avoidance of every kind of excursus. The requirements 
of a good exegesis in scholia are: (a) a short introduction, (6) 
a continuous explanation, relevant and philological, (c) criti- 
cism and emendation of the text. 


Bibliography. In ancient times the scholia of Theodorus of Mopsu- 
estia enjoyed great reputation, although his jejune and frivolous inter- 
pretations often caused annoyance and offense. The textual elucidations 
of Saint John Chrysostom and of Theodoretus, bishop of Cyrus in Syria, 
won universal approbation. Saint Jerome too, and Saint Augustine, tried 
to some extent to expound the Bible by means of scholia. The works 
of these four scholars are of great value to us, especially because they 
adhere to the literal meaning, without however excluding the mys- 
tical. Procopius of Gaza (A.D. 600) collected earlier Greek scholia. 
The Greek writers Theophylactus, who became Archbishop of Achris in 
Bulgaria in 1078, and Euthymius Zigabenus, monk in a religious house 


468 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


near Constantinople in the eleventh century, followed St. John Chrysos- 
tom and Theodoretus, for which reason, although they themselves were 
schismatics, their scholia are still valued and used. Oecumenius, bishop 
of Tricca in Thessaly, is supposed to have written scholia on the Acts 
and Epistles about the year 600; they are generally quoted under his 
name, but it is quite possible that they were the work of some other 
author. It is certain that Oecumenius wrote an interpretation of the 
Apocalypse in the form of a commentary; it has been recently dis- 
covered by Fr. Diekamp. 


9. GLOSSES 


1. By glosses we mean a form of elucidation that deals 
only with single obscure words, and does not aim at explain- 
ing the subject matter. 


The word yAwooa means primarily tongue, then language, but the 
Greek grammarians, who expounded the Greek authors, applied the 
word yAwooa to some obscure word in the text requiring explanation; 
the remark elucidating it was called yAdoonua. Soon, however, the 
usage was reversed; the obscure word in the text was called the 
yAooonua, and its explanation yAwooa. The two words were adopted into 
western languages with these significations. Many glosses written by 
the earliest readers of the Bible have crept into the sacred text, but 
they are as a rule easily recognizable. 


2. The subjects of the Greek grammarians’ glosses were 
words not generally known, especially those derived from for- 
eign languages, provincialisms, unfamiliar, obsolete and tech- 
nical expressions. ‘They wrote their remarks or glosses gen- 
erally in the margin of a copy of the author whom they were 
studying, but sometimes the glosses were written apart in a 
separate book. Following this method, Greek ecclesiastical 
writers composed glosses on obscure words in the Greek of the 
Old and New Testaments. Subsequent Greek grammarians 
collected glosses of this kind, adding others of their own, and 
arranging the whole collection alphabetically, so that the ob- 
scure word in the text stood first, and then a word or note 
by way of interpretation of it. These collections are called 
glossaries, and the author or collector of glosses is a glossator. 
A glossary differs from a dictionary in not containing all the 
words of a language, but only the obscure words with their 
interpretation 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 469 


3. The chief among the Greek glossators is Hesychius, an 
Alexandrian grammarian of the fourth century. His glossary 
(which he himself called a lexicon) has come down to us. 
That of Suidas, a Greek grammarian who lived about 1000 a. p., 
is equally important. 


Other valuable lexicons or glossaries are those of Zonaras of Con- 
stantinople, a Greek monk who lived in the twelfth century, and of Pho- 
tius, a well-known Patriarch. We ought also to mention the Htymolo- 
gicum Magnum, compiled by an unknown scholar in the eleventh century, 
and the Glossarium of Varinus Phavorinus (ob. 1537), a Benedictine 
from Camerino in Umbria, who had been a pupil of the Greek scholar, 
John Lascaris. Most of these glossaries deal with profane works as well 
as Holy Scripture, but special glossaries, containing only words from the 
Bible, have been compiled from them and published.t. A collection of 
Latin glossaries was made by Lowe and Gitz, 1888-1901. 


4, In the Middle Ages the word yA@ooa acquired a some- 
what different meaning. It was applied to a collection of 
short, objective elucidations of Holy Scripture, and particu- 
larly of the Vulgate. The medieval glosses scarcely differ at 
all from scholia. Glosses of this kind are also called catena, 
when several old explanations are, as it were, linked together 
and given one after the other. The most famous of these is 
the Catena aurea of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a collection in very 
condensed form of earlier elucidations of the gospels, collected 
from over eighty Greek and Latin authors (new edition, Turin, 
1894). A Jesuit named Cordier, who lived at Antwerp about 
1628, did excellent work in editing catene.2 We have two 
especially famous glosses dating from the Middle Ages, viz. 
Walafried Strabo’s Glossa Ordinaria and Anselm of Laon’s 
Glossa interlinearis. 

Walafried Strabo (born 807, died as Abbot of the monastery 
at Reichenau, near Constance, in 849), taking as his founda- 
tion the elucidations of Scripture given by his master Rhabanus 
Maurus, compiled a glossa of the Vulgate text of the Old and 


1 Ernesti, Glossw sacre Hesychii, etc. Lipsie, 1785-86. 

2 We mention also Pearson’s Critici Sacri, 9 vols., London, 1660, and 
Frankfurt am Main, 1695-1701, a collection of Catholic and Protestant 
commentators; also J. A. Cramer’s collections of ‘ Catene from the 
Greek Fathers,” Oxford, 1838-1844. 


470 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


New Testaments, which was afterwards called the Glossa Or- 
dinaria, partly because it was so generally used, and partly 
to distinguish it from Anselm’s work. Strabo’s explanations 
are mostly derived from the Fathers, but he added a good 
many of his own, and for nearly seven hundred years, viz. from 
the ninth to the sixteenth century, his work was for theolo- 
gians the ordinary and almost the only exegesis of Holy 
Scripture. (His complete works may be found in Migne’s 
Patrologia, Tom. 113, 114.) In the twelfth century Anselm, 
dean of the Cathedral at Laon (ob. 1117), attempted to make 
a still shorter interpretation by writing easily intelligible words 
or very brief remarks above the obscure words in the Vulgate, 
between the lines of the text, so that his work received the 
name of Glossa Interlinearis. From the twelfth century onwards 
the Vulgate was regularly copied with both these glosses, so 
that the text stood in the middle of the page, the glossa or- 
dinarva on the upper margin and on either side of the text, 
and the glossa interlinearis between the lines of it. After the 
fourteenth century the postil’ by the Franciscan Nicholas of 
Lyra (lLyranus, ob. 1340)? and the additions made by Bishop 
Paul of Burgos* were written on the very broad margin left 
below the Bible text. In his form the Vulgate appeared 
among the first productions of the printing press. 


10. COMMENTARIES 


1. By a commentary we mean a connected and exhaustive 
explanation of the meaning of a book. This form of exegesis 
belongs to recent times, and is connected with the classical 
studies that have been carried on in preference to others since 
the fifteenth century. 

2. A biblical commentary may be concerned with the exe- 


1 The name comes from the words: Post illa sc. verba textus, — 
the explanation followed the text. 

? His birthplace was Lyra, a little town in Normandy. 

* He was by birth a Jew, but was converted in 1390. His son became 
bishop of Burgos after him, in 1435, and it was to this son that he had 
sent his additiones. 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 471 


gesis of the original text or of a translation. In the latter 
case, a Catholic commentator is bound to use a version that 
has received the sanction of the Church, but where difficulties 
occur, he must always compare the original, and if possible 
by that means throw light on the obscure passage. We gen- 
erally expound the New Testament in accordance with the Greek 
text, but reference must always be made to the Vulgate. Most 
writers expound the Old Testament according to the Vulgate, 
but with reference both to the Hebrew text and to the various 
versions, particularly the Septuagint (cf. supra, p. 167). 

3. The arrangement of a commentary on the Bible is gen- 
erally the following: 

(a) The actual commentary is preceded by an introduction 
to the book, discussing the author and the readers for whom 
he wrote, the motive, purpose and contents of the book, and 
the place and date of its composition. In this way the reader 
is supplied with a preliminary survey of the book, is enabled 
to form some opinion regarding it, and is prepared to under- 
stand its various parts. 

(b) The text is divided into sections, either corresponding 
to the chapters in the book, or so that several chapters of 
kindred contents are grouped together under one heading. 

(c) To the explanation of each section is suitably prefixed 
the text under discussion, either in the original or in a trans- 
lation, the latter being more usual. 

(d) The commentator has to practice textual criticism, 1. e. 
where different readings occur he must state which he regards 
as correct, and for what reasons. 

(e) In the exegesis of the various sections, for the purpose 
of elucidating obscure passages, the commentator must avail 
himself of all the resources of scholarship in the domains of 
philology, history and theology, and also use his own opinions, 
provided always that he attends to the fundamental principles 
oft the Church (cf. p. 167, ete.). 

(f) Finally we expect of a commentator that he should 
mention the chief explanations put forward by others with 
whom he does not agree, giving at the same time his reasons 
for refusing to assent to them. 


472 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


11. Srupy AND READING OF THE BIBLE 


As it is of the utmost importance that the Word of God should 
remain pure and free from all falsification, Leo XIII issued 
the following rules on Jan. 25, 1897: 

1. The use of editions of the original text and of early 
Catholic versions that are published by non-Catholics but 
profess to be faithful and pure, is permitted only to those 
who are engaged in theological or biblical studies, provided 
that Catholic doctrines are not attacked in the prolegomena or 
notes. 

2. In the same way and under similar conditions other 
translations of the sacred books, whether in Latin or in some 
other language, but not in the vernacular, are permitted though 
published by non-Catholics. 

3. Translations of the sacred books into the vernacular, even 
if made by Catholics, are absolutely forbidden unless they are 
approved by the apostolic See, or, under the supervision of the 
bishops, are provided with explanatory notes taken from the 
Fathers or some approved Catholic authors. 

4. All translations of the sacred books into the vernacular 
which are the work of non-Catholics are forbidden, especially 
those distributed by the so-called Bible societies. They are 
permitted, under the conditions stated above (1),’ only for the 
purposes of theological or biblical study. 

These rules laid down by the Church have called forth much 
adverse criticism from non-Catholics. Protestants go so far 
as to declare the reading of the Bible to be a duty, but this is 
a mistake. 

Reasons for the Catholic regulations: 1. Nowhere in Holy Scripture 
is Bible reading prescribed. Jesus Christ gave instructions to preach, 
and consequently also to hear, the gospel. If every one were bound 
to read the Bible, many could not be saved. The early Christians did 
not possess the whole of the Sacred Scriptures, and according to Prot- 
estant teaching it is not certain which books belong to them. Cf. p. 208. 


2. Such a precept was unknown throughout all the early ages of the 
Church. The Fathers recommend the reading of the sacred books, but 


* Gregory XVI issued very similar rules on Jan. 7, 1836, and Ma~ 
8, 1844, 


INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 473 


know nothing of a command enjoining it; and their recommendation is 
addressed to priests and clerics. At the present time laymen are also 
recommended to read long or short portions of Holy Scripture, or, 
under certain conditions mentioned above (3), the whole Bible. 

3. The Bible, being the written teaching of the Church, is intended 
primarily for those who teach in the Church, and only through them 
for those who hear. It was thus under the Old Covenant. The book 
containing the law of Moses was given over to the priests; only the 
king was to have a copy of it,.and the people were required, not to 
read, but to hear. (Deut. xxxi. 9, etc.; cf. Deut. xvii. 18.) 

4. The Bible is by no means easy for every one to understand, but 
is frequently obscure (supra, p. 168), and even scholars are not agreed 
as to the meaning of many passages. Disastrous results have often 
followed Bible reading by young persons and inaccurate interpretation 
by unqualified people. 

5. The schismatic Greek Church, and even many Protestants, agree 
with the rules laid down by the Catholic Church.t 


APPENDIX 


EXEGETICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Of the time of the Fathers special mention must be made of Justin 
lfartyr (ob. 167) and Ireneus (ob. 202), who explain many parts of the 
bible in the course of their works; but systematic commentary origi- 
nated in Alexandria, through Clement of Alexandria (ob. 217) and Ori- 
gen (ob. 254), who were followed by Athanasius (ob. 373). In the 
fourth century the exegetie school at Antioch and Nisibis arose, which, 
unlike that of Alexandria with its fondness for allegory, always examined 
the literal meaning first, without, however, excluding the mystical inter- - 
pretation. The chief representatives of this school are John Chrysostom 
(ob. 407) and Ephrem (ob. 379). Basilius (ob. 379) and Gregory of 
Nyssa (ob. 395) occupy a position about midway between the Alexan- 
drian and Syrian schools. Theodore of Mopsuestia (ob. 428) went even 
further than the school of Antioch, for he refused to admit any mystical 
interpretation at all. The most noted Greek commentators in the fifth 
century are Cyril of Alexandria (ob. 444) and Theodoretus (ob. 458). 
Among the Latin writers Ambrose (ob. 397), Jerome (ob. 420), Augus- 
tine (ob. 430) and Gregory the Great (ob. 604) are conspicuous above 
all others. 

In the Middle Ages we have the Venerable Bede (ob. 735), Walafried 
Strabo (ob. 849), Rhabanus Maurus (ob. 856), Rupert of Deutz (ob, 
1135), Thomas Aquinas (ob. 1274), Bonaventure (ob. 1274), Alphonsus 
Tostatus (ob. 1454) and Dionysius the Carthusian (ob. 1471). 

Nearer our own times, commentaries of the whole Bible have been writ- 


1 Even Protestants have recently felt the necessity of using only ex- 
tracts from the Bible in schools, instead of, as hitherto, allowing the 
whole Bible to be read. 


474 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


ten by Fr. Vatablus (ob. 1547 in Paris), Emanuel Sa, S.J. (ob. 1596), 
James Tirinus, 8.J. (ob. 1636), Cornelius a Lapide, S.J. (= van den 
Steen, born near Liége, 1566, died in Rome, 1637) ,’ Stephen Menochius, 
S.J. (ob. 1655), Aug. Calmet, Abbot of the Benedictine monastery at 
Sennones in Lorraine, died 1757. 

Wilhelm Estius (ob. 1613) wrote notes on the most important pas- 
sages in Holy Scripture. The commentaries of Sa, Tirinus and Estius 
were put together and united in John de la Haye’s editions of the Bible 
in 1643 and 1660. 

The following have written commentaries on single parts of the 
Bible: Jansen (ob. 1576) annotated the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Eccle- 
siasticus and Wisdom, and wrote a harmony of the gospels. Maldonatus, 
S.J. (ob. 1583), annotated Jeremias, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, and espe- 
cially the gospels; Salmeron, S.J. (ob. 1585), the gospels and the Acts of 
the Apostles; Agellius (ob. 1608), Psalms, Proverbs, Lamentations, Haba- 
kuk. Serarius, 8.J. (ob. 1609), annotated most of the historical books 
of the Old Testament and the Epistles. Pererius, S.J. (ob. 1610), wrote 
on Genesis and Daniel; Estius (ob. 1613), on the epistles; Fr. Lucas 
(ob. 1619), on the gospels; Bellarmine, S.J. (ob. 1621), on the Psalms; 
Pineda, S.J. (ob. 1637), on Ecclesiastes and Job; Bonfrére (ob. 1643), 
on the Pentateuch, Josue, Judges, Ruth, Kings and Chronicles; Corde- 
rius, S.J. (ob. 1650), on Job. 

The best of these older commentaries have been printed in J. P. Migne’s 
great work: Scripture s. Cursus completus, 28 vols., Paris, 1839, ete., an 
almost inexhaustible storehouse of information. 

The most important and comprehensive modern commentary on Holy 
Scripture is the one appearing in Latin at Paris, under the superintend- 
ence of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus; its title is Cursus Sacre 
Scripture, and over thirty large octavo volumes of it have already been 
published. The chief collaborators are the Fathers Cornely, v. Humme- 
lauer and Knabenbauer. Belonging to it (besides the Introductio, see 
p. 475) is the Lexicon biblicum by M. Hagen, 8.J., of which three large 
volumes have appeared, but it is still unfinished. 

Reference should also be made to the Dictionnaire de la Bible 
in five massive volumes, edited by F. Vigouroux (d. 1915), Paris, 1912. 


1A new edition of his commentary on the gospels appeared at Turin, 
1896-99, in 4 volumes, edited by A. Padovani. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


(Non-Catholic authors are marked with an asterisk) 


Aberle, M. v., Einleitung in das Neue Testament, edited by P. Schanz. 
Freiburg i. Br., 1877. 

Alliott, J. Fr., Handbuch der biblischen Altertumskunde, conjointly with 
Gratz and Haneberg. 2 vols. Landshut, 1844. 

Alliolt, J. Frv., Die Hl. Schrift des A. u. N. Test. tibersetzt und erliutert. 
3 vols. Ratisbon, 1897. 

Bardenhewer, O., Patrology, English tr. by Shahan, Freiburg and St. 
Louis, 1908. 

Belser, J. E., Einleitung in das Neue Testament. 2d ed. Freiburg i. 

Brel J00, 
*Benziger, J., Hebraéische Archaologie. Freiburg and Leipzig, 1894. 2d 
revised edition. Tiib., 1907. 

Boese, H., S.J., Die Glaubwiirdigkeit unserer Evangelien. Freiburg i. 
Br., 1895. 

Catholic Encyclopedia, The, 16 vols., N. Y., 1907 sqq. 

*Cobern, C. M., The New Archeological Discoveries and their Bearing 
upon the New Testament, N. Y., 1917. 

Cornely, Rud., S.J., Historica et critica introductio in U. T. libros sacros. 
Paris, 1885 sqq. 4 vols. Ed. 2. 1893-1897. 

Cornely, Rud., S.J., Compendium introductionis in s. Scripturas. Paris, 
1889. Ed. 5. 1905. 

Cornely, Rud., S.J., Synopses omnium librorum sacrorum utriusque 
Lest. Paris, 1899. 

*Cormll, C. H., Einleitung in das Alte Testament. Frb., Tiib., 1891, 
1895. 

*Delitech, Fr., Babel und Bibel. Leipzig, 1902, 1903. ‘‘Mehr Licht,’’ 
Leipzig, 1907. 

*Driver, S. R., Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 1891. 

*Duhm, B., Die Entstehung des Alten Testamentes. Freiburg i. Br. and 
Leipzig, 1897. 

Gla, D., Repertorium der Kath.-theol. Literatur von 1700-1894. Vol. I, 
sect. 1. Paderborn, 1895. 

Graham, H. G., Where We Got the Bible, London, 1914; new ed. 1924. 

Grannan, Chs. P., A General Introduction to the Bible, 4 vols., St. Louis, 
1921. 

Grimm, Jos., Die Samariter. Munich, 1854. 

Grimm, Jos., Einheit der vier Evangelien. Ratisbon, 1868. 

*Guthe, H., Bibelworterbuch. Tiib. and Lpz., 1903. 

Herbst, J. G., Einleitung in die Schriften des Alten Testamentes, edited 
by B. Welte. Karlsruhe and Freiburg, 1840-1844, 


475 


476 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


*Hilprecht, H. V., Excavations in Bible Lands during the Nineteenth 
Century. Philadelphia, 1903. 

Hoberg, G., Moses und der Pentateuch, 1905. (‘‘We possess a Mosaie 
Pentateuch, but not in an edition prepared by Moses.’’) 

* Holtzmann, H. J., Lehrbuch der historisch-kritischen Einleitung in das 
Neue Testament. 3d enlarged and improved edition. Freib. i. Br., 
1892. 

* Hommel, Fr., Die altisraelitische Uberlieferung in inschriftlicher Be- 
leuchtung. Munich, 1897. 

Hopf, H., Die hohere Bibelkritik. Paderborn, 1905. 

Hug, L., Einleitung in das Neue Testament. 2 vols. Freib. i. Br., 1846. 

Hug, L., Gutachen tiber das Leben Jesu von Strauss. Freib. i. Br., 
1846. 

v. Hummelauer, Fr., S.J. Der biblische Schopfungsbericht. Freib. i. Br., 
1877 and 1898. 

v. Hummelauer, Fr., S.J., Commentarius in Pent. Paris, 1895, ete. 

*Jeremias, A., Monotheistische Stro6mungen innerhalb der babyl. Relig- 
ion. Lpz., 1905. (‘‘There-are suggestions of monotheism, but it is 
impossible to maintain that monotheism was invented and discovered 
in Babylon. Israel always occupies the foremost position.’’) 

* Jiilicher, Ad., Einleitung in das Neue Testament. 5th and 6th ed. Tiib. 
and Leipzig, 1905. 

Kalt, E., Biblische Archaologie, Freiburg i. Br., 1924. 

Kaulen, F'r., Einleitung in die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Tes- 
tamentes. 5th ed., 3 vols., Freiburg i. Br., 1911. 

Kaulen, Fr., Der biblische Schopfungsbericht. Freiburg i. Br., 1902. 

*Kautzsch, E., Die Heilige Schrift des Alten Testamentes tibersetzt und 
herausgegeben. Freiburg i. Br., 1894. 

*Kayser, Aug., Theologie des Alten Testamentes. 2d ed., by Marti. 
Strassburg, 1894. 

Keil, P., Zur Babel- und Bibelfrage. Treves, 1903. 

*Keil, K. F., Handbuch der hebr. Archiologie. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1858. 

Keppler, P., Wanderfahrten und Wallfahrten im Orient. Freiburg i. Br.. 
Sth ed., 1905. 

Kihn, H., Encyklopidie und Methodologie der Theologie. Freiburg i. Br., 
1892. 

Kirchenlexikon (Wetzer and Welte), re-edited by Hergenrodther and 
Kaulen. Vol. I-XII. Freiburg i. Br., 1882-1901. 

*Kirchhoff, A., Palastinakunde. Halle, 1899. 

Kley, J., Die Pentateuchfrage. Miinster, 1904. 

*Kriiger, G., Entstehung des Neuen Testamentes. Freiburg i. Br. and 
Leipzig, 1896. 

Kiinstle, K., Das Komma Johanneum. Freiburg i. Br., 1905. 

Langen, J., Grundriss der Finleitung in das Neue Testament. Freiburg 
i. Br., 1868. 

Loch, V., and Reischl, W., Die hl. Schriften des Alten und Neuen Testa- 
mentes tibersetzt und erlautert. Ratisbon, 1851. 

*Maurer, Fr., Febr. u. chald. Handworterbuch zum A. T. Stuttgart, 1851. 

Mayer, Bon., Das Judentum. Ratisbon, 1845, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 47 


~e 


Messmer, 8. G., Outlines of Bible Knowledge, N. Y. 

*Meyer, Ed., Entstehung des Judentums. Halle, 1896. 

Migne, J. P., Scripture Sacre Cursus Completus. 28 vols. Parisiis, 
1839 sqq. 

* Nestle, H., Einfiihrung in das Griech. Neue Testament. G6ttingen, 1897. 

Nikel, J., Der Monotheismus Israels in der vorexilischen Zeit. Pader- 
born, 1893. 

Nikel, J., Genesis und Keilschriftforschung. Freiburg i. Br., 1903. 

Pawliki, M., Ursprung des Christentums. Mayence, 1885. 

Pope, Hugh, O.P., Catholic Student’s ‘‘Aids’’ to the Bible. 3 vols. 
London, 1913 ff. 

Portner, B., Die Autoritait der deuterokanonischen Bucher des Alten Tes- 
tamentes. Miinster, 1893. 

Retthmayr, Fr. X., Einleitung in das Neue Testament. Ratisbon, 1852. 

Retthmayr, Fr. X., Lehrbuch der biblischen Hermeneutik, edited by V. 
Thalhofer. Kempten, 1874. 

Reusch, Fr. H., Lehrbuch der Einleitung in das Alte Testament. 3d ed. 
Freiburg i. Br., 1868. 

* Reuss, E., Die Geschichte der heil. Schriften des Alten Testamentes. 
Brunswick, 1881. 

* Sayce, A. H., Fresh Lights from Ancient Monuments, London, 1883. 

Schafer, B., Altertiimer der Bibel. 2d ed. Miinster, 1891. 

Schafer, B., Kurzgef. wissenschaftl. Kommentar zum Alten und Neuen 
Testament, mit mehreren herausgegeben von B. Schafer. 12 and 7 
vols. Vienna, 1901, ete. 

Schegg, P., Biblische Archaologie, edited by Wirthmiller. Freiburg i. 
Br., 1886. 

Schenz, W., Winleitung in das Alte Testament. Ratisbon, 1887. 

*Schleusner, J. Fr., Lexicon gr. lat. in N. T. Lips. 1792. 


Schépfer, Am., Geschichte des Alten Testamentes. 5th ed. Brixen, 1921. 

Scholz, P., Die heiligen Altertiimer Israels. 2 vols. Ratisbon, 1868. 

Schumacher, H., A Handbook of Scripture Study, 3 vols., St. Louis, 
1923 ff. 

* Schiirer, H., Geschichte des jiidischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi. 
3 vols. and one vol. containing index. 3d ed. Leipzig, 1898-1902. 

Schuster-Holzammer, Handbuch zur biblischen Geschichte. 2 vols. 8th 
ed., Freiburg i. B., 1925. (English edition in preparation.) 

Sellin, E., Die alttestamentliche Religion im Rahmen der andern alt- 
orientalischen. Leipzig, 1908. 

*Siegfried and Stade, Hebraisches Worterbuch zum A. T. Leipzig, 1893. 

*Stade, Bernh., Geschichte des Volkes Israel. 2 vols. Berlin, 1888, etc. 

*Stade, Bernh., Entstehung des Volkes Israel. Giessen, 1899. 

*Steuernagel, C., Allg. Hinleitung in den Hexateuch. Gottingen, 1900. 

*Strack, H. L., Kinleitung in das Alte Testament. 6th ed. Munich, 1906, 

Trenkle, Fr. Sal., Einleitung in das Neue Testament. Freiburg i. Br.,, 
1897. 

* Volck, K. J., Entwicklungsgeschichte der alttest. Religion nach der Graf- 
Wellhausenschen Hypothese. Carlsruhe, 1891. 

Weinhart, B., Das Neue Testament. 2d ed. Freiburg i. Br., 1899. 


478 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


*Wellhausen, Jul., Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels. Berlin, 1886. 

*Wellhausen, Jul., Israelitische und jiidische Geschichte. Berlin, 1894. 

Welte, B., Nachmosaisches im Pentateuch. Freiburg i. Br., 1841. 

*Winer, G. B., Biblisches Realworterbuch. 2 vols. 3d'‘ed. Leipzig, 1847. 

*Winckler, H., Die Tontafeln von Tel el Amarna. Berlin, 1896, 

*Zahn, Th., Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons. 2 vols. Er- 
langen and Leipzig, 1888, 1890. 

Ziegler, L., Die lateinischen Bibeliibersetzungen von Hieronymus und die 
Itala des Augustinus. Munich, 1879. 

* Zimmern, H., Biblische und babylonische Urgeschichte. Leipzig, 1901. 


APPENDIX 


—— 


DECISIONS OF THE BIBLICAL COMMISSION 





APPENDIX 


DECISIONS OF THE BIBLICAL COMMISSION 


x 
ON THE TACIT QUOTATIONS CONTAINED IN HOLY ScrIPTURE 


In order to establish a guide for students of Holy Scripture the 
following question has been proposed to the Biblical Commission: 


Whether it is allowable for a Catholic commentator to solve diffi- 
culties occurring in certain texts of Holy Scripture, which apparently 
make historical statements, by asserting that we have in such texts 
tacit or implied quotations from documents written by a non-inspired 
author, and that the inspired author by no means intends to approve 
of these statements or make them his own, and that these statements 
cannot, in consequence, be regarded as free from error. 

To this the Commission judged proper to reply: In the negative; 
except in the case when, subject to the mind and decision of the Church, 
it can be proved by solid arguments, first, that the sacred writer really 
does cite another’s sayings or writings; and secondly, that he does 
not intend, in so doing, to approve them or make them his own. 

Feb. 13, 1905. 


‘hE 


CONCERNING THE NARRATIVES IN THE HisroricAL BoOKS WHICH HAVE 
ONLY THE APPEARANCE OF BEING HISTORICAL 


The Biblical Commission answers the following question: 


Whether we may admit as a principle of sound exegesis the opinion 
that those books of Holy Scripture which are regarded as either wholly 
or in part historical, sometimes narrate what is not really history 
properly so-called and objectively true, but only have the appearance 
of history and are intended to convey a meaning different from the 
strictly literal or historical sense of the words. 

Answer: In the negative; excepting always the case—not to be 
easily or rashly admitted, and then only on the supposition that it is not 
opposed to the teaching of the Church and subject to her decision—that 
it can be proved by solid arguments that the sacred writer did not 
intend to give a true and strict history, but proposed rather to set 
forth, under the guise and form of history, a parable or an allegory 


481 


482 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


or some meaning distinct from the literal or historical signification 
of the words. 
June 23, 1905. 


III 
On THE Mosaic AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH 
The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Authenticity—Whether the arguments amassed by critics to 
impugn the Mosaic authenticity of the sacred books designated by the 
name Pentateuch are of sufficient weight, notwithstanding the very 
many evidences to the contrary contained in both Testaments taken 
collectively, the persistent agreement of the Jewish people, the constant 
tradition of the Church, and internal arguments derived from the text 
itself, to justify the statement that these books have not Moses for 
their author, but have been compiled from sources for the most part 
posterior to the time of Moses. 


Answer: No. 


2. Writer—Whether the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch 
necessarily postulates such a redaction of the whole work as to render 
it absolutely imperative to maintain that Moses wrote with his own 
hand or dictated to amanuenses all and everything contained in it; 
or whether it is possible to admit the hypothesis of those who think 
that he entrusted the composition of the work itself, conceived by him- 
self under the influence of divine inspiration, to some other person 
or persons, but in such a manner that they rendered faithfully his 
own thoughts, wrote nothing contrary to his will, and omitted nothing; 
and that the work thus produced, approved by Moses as the principal 
and inspired author, was made public under his name. 


Answer: No to the first part, yes to the second part. 


3. Sources.—Whether it may be granted, without prejudice to the 
Mosaic authenticity of the Pentateuch, that Moses employed in the 
production of his work sources, 4. €., written documents or oral traditions, 
from which, to suit his special purpose and under the influence of divine 
inspiration, he selected some things and inserted them in his work, 
either literally or in substance, summarized or amplified. 


Answer: Yes. 


4, Changes and Textual Corruptions——Whether, granted the sub- 
stantial Mosaic authenticity and the integrity of the Pentateuch, it 
may be admitted that in the long course of centuries some modifications 
have been introduced into the work, such as additions after the death 
of Moses, either appended by an inspired author or inserted into the 
text as glosses and explanations; certain words and forms translated 
from the ancient language to more recent language, and finally, faulty 
readings to be ascribed to the error of amanuenses, concerning which 
it is lawful to investigate and judge according to the laws of criticism. 


Answer: Affirmatively, subject to the judgment of the Church. 
June 27, 1906. 


APPENDIX 485 


IV 
ON THE AUTHOR AND HISTORICAL TRUTH OF THE FourRTH GOSPEL 
The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. External Evidence for Authenticity Whether from the constant, 
universal, and solemn tradition of the Church coming down from the 
second century, as it is gathered chiefly: (a) from the testimonies 
and allusions of the holy Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, nay even 
those of heretics, which since they must have been derived from the 
disciples or first successors of the Apostles, are joined by a necessary 
connection to the very origin of the book; (b) from the fact that the 
name of the author of the Fourth Gospel was always and everywhere 
received in the canons and catalogues of the sacred books; (c) from 
the most .ancient manuscript codices of the same books and their 
versions in various -languages; (d) from the public liturgical use 
obtaining throughout the whole world from the very beginnings of the 
Church; leaving aside the theological argument, it is proved by a solid 
historical argument that the Apostle John and no other must be 
acknowledged as the author of the Fourth Gospel, so that the reasons to 
the contrary, brought forward by the critics, in no wise weaken this 
tradition. 


Answer: Yes. 


2. Internal Evidence for Authenticity—Whether also the internal 
reasons, which are drawn from the text of the Fourth Gospel considered 
separately from the testimony of the writer and the manifest kinship 
of the same Gospel with the First Epistle of the Apostle John, must 
be considered to confirm the tradition which unhesitatingly attributes 
the Fourth Gospel to the same Apostle. And whether the difficulties 
which are drawn from the comparison of: this Gospel with the other 
three, bearing in mind the diversity of time, of scope, and of the 
hearers for whom or against whom the author wrote, can be reasonably 
solved, as the holy Fathers and Catholic commentators have done at 
all times. 


Answer: Affirmatively to both parts. 


3. Historical Character—Whether, notwithstanding the practice 
which has constantly obtained in the whole Church from the first ages, 
of arguing from the Fourth Gospel as from a strictly historical docu- 
ment, and considering moreover the peculiar character of the same 
Gospel and the author’s manifest intention of illustrating and vindi- 
‘eating the divinity of Christ from His own deeds and words, it can 
be said that the facts narrated in the Fourth Gospel are wholly or 
in part invented to serve as allegories or doctrinal symbols, and that 
the discourses of our Lord are not properly and truly discourses of 
our Lord Himself, but the theological compositions of the writer, albeit 
they are placed in the mouth of our Lord. 


Answer: No. 
May 29, 1907. 


484 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


V 
ON THE CHARACTER OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAS AND ITS AUTHOR 
The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Prophetical Character—Whether it may be taught that the 
prophecies which are yead in the book of Isaias, and here and there 
in the Scriptures, are not real prophecies, but either narratives com- 
posed subsequent to the event, or, if it must be acknowledged that 
something was foretold before the event, that the prophet foretold 
the same, not from a supernatural revelation of God, who foreknows 
the future, but by conjecturing through a happy sagacity and acuteness 
of natural intelligence from things that had already happened. 


Answer: No. 


2. Time of Fulfillment—Whether the opinion which holds that 
Isaias and the other prophets uttered prophecies concerning only those 
things which were to take place’ immediately or after a short space 
of time, can be reconciled with the prophecies, particularly the Messianic 
and eschatological prophecies which were undoubtedly uttered by the same 
prophets as referring to the remote future, as well as with the common 
opinion of the Fathers who unanimously assert that the prophets fore- 
told also those things which should be fulfilled after many ages. 


Answer: No. 


3. <Authenticity—Whether it may be admitted that the prophets 
not only as correctors of human wickedness and heralds of the divine 
Word for the good of their hearers, but also as foretellers of future 
events, must always have addressed themselves to a present and con- 
temporary, and not to a future audience, so that they could be clearly 
understood by them; and that, therefore, the second part of the book 
of Isaias (chapters 40—66), in which the prophet addresses and con- 
soles not the Jews contemporary with Isaias, but those mourning in 
the exile of Babylon, cannot have for its author Isaias himself, then 
long dead, but must be attributed to some unknown prophet living 
among the exiles. 


Answer: No. 


4. Unity of Authorship.—Whether the philological argument, derived 
from the language and the style, and employed to throw doubt upon 
the identity of the author of the book of Isaias, is to be considered - 
weighty enough to compel a man of judgment, versed in the principles 
of criticism and well acquainted with Hebrew, to acknowledge a 
plurality of authors in the same book. 


Answer: No. 


5. Cumulative Arguments against Unity—Whether there are solid 
arguments, even when taken cumulatively, to prove that the book of 


APPENDIX 485 


Isaias is to be attributed not to Isaias alone, but to two or even more 
authors. 
Answer: No. 
June 28, 1908. 


VI 


ON THE HISTORICAL CHARACTER OF THE First THREE CHAPTERS OF 
GENESIS 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. False Exegesis—Whether the various exegetical systems which 
have been elaborated and defended by the aid of a science falsely 
so-called, for the purpose of excluding the literal historical sense from 
the first three chapters of Genesis, are based upon solid arguments. 


Answer: No. 


2. Historical Character of the Three Chapters.—Whether we may, 
in spite of the character and historical mould of the book of Genesis, 
of the close connection between the first three chapters and those which 
follow, of the manifold testimony of the Scriptures both of the Old 
and the New Testament, of the practically unanimous opinion of the 
Fathers, and of the traditional view which—derived from the Jewish 
people—has always been held by the Church, teach that the three 
aforesaid chapters do not contain the narrative of things which actually 
happened, a narrative which corresponds to objective reality and historic 
truth; and whether we may teach that these chapters contain fables 
derived from mythologies and cosmologies belonging to older nations, 
but purified of all polytheistic error and accommodated to monotheistic 
teaching, or that they contain allegories and symbols destitute of any 
foundation in objective reality, but presented under the garb of history 
for the purpose of inculeating religious and philosophical truth; or, 
finally, that they contain legends partly historical and partly fictitious, 
freely handled for the instruction and edification of souls. 


Answer: No to each part. 


3. Historical Character of Certain Parts—Whether, in particular, 
we may call in question the literal and historical meaning when, in these 
chapters, there is question of the narration of facts which touch the 
fundamental teachings of the Christian religion, as, for example, the 
creation of all things by God in the beginning of time, the special 
creation of man, the formation of the first woman from man, the unity 
of the human race, the original happiness of our first parents in a 
state of justice, integrity, and immortality, the divine command laid 
upon man to prove his obedience, the transgression of that divine com- 
mand at the instigation of the devil under the form of a serpent, the 
fall of our first parents from their primitive state of innocence, and 
the promise of a future Redeemer. 


Answer: No. 


486 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE: 


4. Interpretation.—Whether, in interpreting those passages of these 
chapters which the Fathers and Doctors have interpreted in diverse ways 
without leaving us anything definite or certain, anyone may, subject 
to the decision of the Church and following the analogy of faith, adopt 
and defend that opinion at which he has prudently arrived. 


Answer: Yes. 


5. Literal Sense-—Whether all the constituent parts, namely, the 
single words and phrases, of these chapters must always and of necessity 
be interpreted in a literal sense, so that it is never lawful to deviate 
from it, even when expressions are manifestly not used in the strictly 
literal sense, but metaphorically or anthropomorphically, and when reason 
or necessity compel us to depart from the strictly literal sense. 


Answer: No. 


6. Allegory and Prophecy.—Whether, granting always the literal 
and historical sense, the allegorical and prophetical interpretation of 
certain passages of these chapters—an interpretation justified by the 
example of the Fathers and the Church—may be prudently and usefully 
applied. 


Answer: Yes. 


7. Scientifie Expression—Whether, since it was not the intention 
of the sacred author, when writing the first chapter of Genesis, to 
teach us the innermost nature of visible things, nor to present the 
complete order of creation in a scientific manner; but rather to furnish 
his people. with a popular account, such as the common parlance of 
that age allowed, that is one adapted to the senses and to man’s 
intelligence, we are always bound, when interpreting these chapters, 
to seek for scientific exactitude of expression. 


Answer: No. 


8. Yom.—Whether the word Yom (day), which is used in the 
first chapter of Genesis to describe and distinguish the six days, may 
be taken either in its strict sense as the natural day, or in a less strict 
sense as signifying a certain space of time; and whether free dis- 
cussion of this question is permitted to interpreters. 


Answer: Yes. 
June 30, 1909. 
VII 


On THE AUTHOR, TIME OF COMPOSITION, AND CHARACTER OF THE PSALMS 
The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Authorship.—Whether the terms Psalms of David, Hymns of 
David, the Book of the Psalms of David, the Book of David, the Davidic 
Psalter, which in the old collections and even in the Councils are used to 
designate the Old Testament Book of 150 Psalms, as also the opinion of 


APPENDIX 487 


many Fathers and Doctors who held that absolutely all the Psalms of the 
Psalter were to be attributed to David alone, are of such force that we 
have to consider David as the sole author of the entire Psalter. 


Answer: No. 


2. Antiquity of the Titles—Whether, from the agreement of the 
Hebrew with the Alexandrian Greek text and with other old versions, 
we can rightly conclude that the titles prefixed to the Psalms in the 
Hebrew text are of older date than the aforesaid LXX version, and 
that, consequently, they are attributable if not directly to the authors 
of the Psalms, at least to very ancient Jewish tradition. 


Answer: Yes. 


3. Genuwineness of the Titles —Whether the aforesaid titles, witnesses 
to the Jewish tradition, can be reasonably called in question except 
where there is solid reason for doubting their genuine character. 


Answer: No. 


4. Davidical Authorship —Whether, considering the not infrequent 
testimonies in the Bible to David’s natural skill, a skill further illumined 
by the special gift of the Holy Spirit for the composition of religious 
odes; whether, considering too, the arrangement drawn up by him for 
the liturgical chanting of the Psalms; the attributions also, both in the 
Old Testament and the New, of Psalms to him, as also in the actual 
inscriptions anciently affixed to the Psalms; whether, moreover, con- 
sidering the common opinion of the Jews and of the Fathers and 
Doctors of the Church, it ean be prudently denied that David was the 
principal author of the odes contained in the Psalter. Whether, on 
the other hand, it can be maintained that only a few of these odes are 
to be attributed to the Royal Psalmist. 


Answer: No to both questions. 


5. Davidical Authorship m Particular—Whether we may in par- 
ticular deny the Davyidie origin of the Psalms which, in both the Old 
and New Testaments, are expressly cited as. David’s, especially such 
dsielse, eAVby have the Gentiles raged ’755Ps. 15, °“ Preserve me, 
O-Tord’’; Psi.17, **1 will love Thee, O- Lord, ay strength’; PSaol. 
““Blessed are they whose iniquities are ite on ss 6S aya mave. me; 
O God’’; Ps. 109, ‘‘The Lord said to my Lord.’’ 


Answer: No. 


6. Changes and Additions—Whether we can admit the view held 
by some, that certain Psalms, whether by David or by other authors, 
have, for liturgical or naneel reasons, or through the carelessness of 
eopyists, or for other unexplained reasons, been divided or even welded 
together. Further, whether we can hold that some Psalms, e. g., the 
‘‘Miserere,’’ have for the sake of better adaptability to historical 
circumstances or Jewish festivals, been slightly remoulded or modified, 


488 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


either by the removal or addition of one or two verses, without detri- 
ment to the inspiration of the whole sacred text. 


Answer: Yes to both questions. 


7. Recent Psalms.—Whether we can maintain with any real prob- 
ability the opinion of those who, judging by internal grounds alone 
or basing their views upon an unsound interpretation of the sacred 
text, strive to demonstrate that not a few Psalms were composed after 
the date of Esdras and Nehemias, nay, even in the Machabean age. 


Answer: No. 


8. Prophetic and Messianic Psalms.—Whether, judging by the re- 
peated testimonies of the Books of the New Testament, the unanimous 
consent of the Fathers, in agreement, too, with Jewish writers, we can hold 
that many of the Psalms are to be recognized as prophetic and Messianic, 
i.e., aS foretelling the coming of a future Redeemer, His kingdom, His 
priesthood, His Passion, death, and resurrection. And whether we must, 
in consequence, reject the opinion of those who, perverting the prophetic 
and Messianic character of the Psalms, limit these oracles concerning 
Christ to mere predictions of the future lot of the Chosen People. 


Answer: Yes to both questions. 
May 1, 1910: 


Vill 


On THE AUTHOR, DATE OF COMPOSITION, AND HISTORICAL TRUTH OF THE 
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO Str. MatTrHEw 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Author—Whether, bearing in mind the universal and constant 
tradition of the Church dating from the first centuries, which explicit 
testimonies of the Fathers, the inscriptions of the codices of the Gospels, 
the oldest versions of the Sacred Books, as well as their catalogues 
transmitted to us by the holy Fathers, ecclesiastical writers, Supreme 
Pontiffs, and Councils, and finally, the liturgical usages of the Eastern 
and Western Church clearly record, it may and must be affirmed with 
certainty that Matthew, an Apostle of Christ, is in truth the author 
of the Gospel published under his name. 


Answer: Yes. 


2. Order of Composition and Language.—Whether the cpinion must 
be considered as sufficiently supported by the testimony of tradition, 
which holds that Matthew wrote before the other Evangelists and that 
he wrote the first Gospel in the Hebrew dialect then in use by the 
Jews of Palestine, for whom this work was intended. 


Answer: Yes to both parts. 


APPENDIX 489 


3. Date of Composition.—Whether the publication of this original 
text may be deferred beyond the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, 
so that the prophecies which are therein recorded concerning that event, 
were written after the destruction, and whether the frequently quoted 
testimony of St. Irenaeus,* the interpretation of which is uncertain and 
controverted, must be considered of such authority as to necessitate 
the rejection of the opinion of those who consider it more in conformity 
with tradition that the first Gospel was completed even before the arrival 
of St. Paul at Rome. 


Answer: No to both parts. 


4. Compilation.—Whether the opinion of certain Modernists may 
be held as probable, according to which Matthew is said to have com- 
posed the Gospel not exactly as it has been transmitted to us, but 
only as a collection of the sayings and discourses of Christ, which an 
anonymous author, whom these Modernists call the compiler of the 
Gospel, has used as sources. 


Answer: No. 


5. Identity of Hebrew and Greek.—Whether, from the fact that the 
Fathers, all ecclesiastical writers, and even the Church herself, from 
the very beginning, have used only the Greek text of the Gospel accord- 
ing to St. Matthew as canonical, not even excepting those who have 
explicitly testified that Matthew, the Apostle, wrote in the Hebrew 
dialect, it can be proved with certainty that the Greek Gospel is 
identical in substance with the Gospel written in the vernacular by the 
same Apostle. 


Answer: Yes. 


6. Historical Character— Whether, from the fact that the purpose 
of the author is principally dogmatic and apologetic, namely, to demon- 
strate that Jesus is the Messias foretold by the prophets and a descend- 
ant of the house of David, and that, moreover, the author does not 
always follow the chronological order in arranging the deeds and sayings 
which he narrates and records, it is lawful to consider them as not 
true; and whether it may be affirmed that the narration of the deeds 
and words of Christ, which is contained in the Gospel, has been subjected 
to changes and adaptations under the influence of the prophecies of the 
Old Testament and the more developed status of the Church, and that 
consequently, this narration is not in conformity with historical truth. 


Answer: No to both parts. 


7. Integrity—Whether in particular the opinion of those ought 
to be considered devoid of solid foundation, who call in question the 


* Euseb., H. H., V, viii, 2; Migne, P. G., XX, 449. This text of St. 
Trenaeus has come: down to us in a Latin translation only: ‘‘Ita 
Matthaeus in Hebraeis ipsorum lingua Scripturam edidit Evangelit, cum 
Petrus et Paulus Romae evangelizarent et fundarent LEcclestam.’’ 
Advers. Haeres., III, i, 1; Migne, P. G., VII, 844. 


490 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


historical authenticity of the first two chapters, in which the genealogy 
and the infancy of Christ are narrated, as also certain passages of 
great importance in dogma, such as those referring to the primacy of 
Peter (XVI, 17-19), the form of Baptism given to the Apostles together 
with the universal mission of teaching (XXIX, 19-20), the Apostles’ 
profession of faith in the divinity of Christ (XIV, 33), and others of 
this character, which are expressed in a manner peculiar to Matthew. 


Answer: Yes. 
June 19, 1911. 
LX 


ON THE AUTHOR, TIME OF COMPOSITION, AND HISTORICAL TRUTH OF THE 
GOSPELS ACCORDING TO ST. MARK AND St. LUKE 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Authenticity—Whether the clear evidence of tradition, wonder- 
fully harmonious from the earliest ages of the Church and supported 
by numerous arguments, viz., by the explicit testimonies of the Fathers 
and ecclesiastical writers, by the citations and allusions occurring in 
their writings, by the usage of the ancient heretics, by the versions of 
the books of the New Testament in the most ancient and almost uni- 
versal manuscript codices, and also by intrinsic arguments from the 
text of the sacred books itself, certainly compels us to affirm that 
Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, and Luke, a physician, 
the assistant and companion of Paul, are really the authors of the 
Gospels which are respectively attributed to them. 


Answer: Yes. 


2. Integrity of the Second Gospel——Whether the reasons by which 
some critics endeavor to prove that the last twelve verses of the Gospel 
of Mark (XVI, 9-20) were not written by Mark himself, but added 
by another hand, are of a kind to justify the statement that these 
verses are not to be received as inspired and canonical, or at least 
prove that Mark is not their author. 


Answer: No to both parts. 


3. Integrity of the Third Gospel——Whether likewise it is lawful 
to doubt of the inspiration and canonicity of the narration of Luke 
on the infancy of Christ (chapter I—II) or of the apparition of the 
Angel comforting Jesus and of the bloody sweat (XXII, 43-44); or 
whether at least it can be shown by solid reasons—as ancient heretics 
used to think and certain more recent critics hold—that these narrations 
do not belong to the genuine Gospel of Luke. 


Answer: No to both parts. 


4, The Magnificat—Whether those rare and altogether singular 
documents in which the Canticle ‘‘Magnificat’’ is attributed not to the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, but to Elizabeth, can and should prevail against 


APPENDIX 491 


the harmonious testimony of nearly all of the codices both of the 
original Greek text and of the versions, as well as against the inter- 
pretation clearly required by the context no less than by the mind of 
the Virgin herself and the constant tradition of the Church. 


Answer: No. 


5. Chronological Order.—Whetlier, with regard to the chronological 
order of the Gospels, it is lawful to abandon the opinion, supported 
as it is by the most ancient as well as constant testimony of tradition, 
which testifies that, after Matthew, who first of all wrote his Gospel 
in his native language, Mark wrote second and Luke third; or is this 
opinion to be regarded as opposed to that which asserts that the second 
and third Gospels were composed before the Greek version of the first 
Gospel. 


Answer: No to both parts. 


6. Date of Composition—Whether it is lawful to set the date of 
the composition of the Gospels of Mark and Luke as late as the 
destruction of the city of Jerusalem; or whether, from the fact that 
in Luke the prophecy of our Lord concerning the overthrow of this 
city seems to be most definite, it can at least be held that his Gospel 
was written after the siege had begun. 


Answer: No to both parts. 


7. Date of the Composition of the Third Gospel.—Whether it is to 
be affirmed that the Gospel of Luke preceded the book of the Acts of 
the Apostles (Acts I, 1-2); and since this book, of which the same 
Luke is author, was finished at the end of the Roman imprisonment 
of the Apostle (Acts XXVIII, 30-31), his Gospel was composed not 
after this date. 


Answer: Yes. 


8. Sources.——Whether, in view both of the testimony of tradition 
and of internal arguments, with regard to the sources which both 
Evangelists used in writing their Gospels, the opinion can prudently 
be called in question which holds that Mark wrote according to the 
preaching of Peter and Luke according to the preaching of Paul, and 
which at the same time asserts that these Evangelists had at their 
disposal other trustworthy sources, either oral or already written. 


Answer: No. 


9, Historical Truth—-Whether the sayings and doings which are 
accurately and almost graphically narrated by Mark, according to 
the preaching of Peter, and by Luke, having diligently learned all 
things from the beginning from eminently trustworthy witnesses, viz., 
‘‘who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word’’ 
(Luke I, 2-3), are most faithfully set forth, have a just claim to 
the full and historical credence which the Church has ever given them; 


492 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


or whether, on the contrary, the same sayings and doings are to be 
regarded as devoid of historical truth at least in part, either because 
the writers were not eyewitnesses, or because in both Evangelists lack 
of order and discrepancy in the succession of facts are not infrequently 
found, or because, since they came and wrote later, they most necessarily 
have related conceptions foreign to the mind of Christ and the Apostles, 
or facts more or less infected by popular imagination, or, finally because 
they indulged in preconceived dogmatic ideas, each according to the 
_ scope he had in view. 


Answer: Yes to the first part; no to the second. 
June 26, 1912. 


xX 


ON THE SYNOPTIC QUESTION OR THE MUTUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE 
First THREE GOSPELS 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Synoptic Question—Whether, observing absolutely all things that 
are to be observed according to what has been already laid down, 
especially as regards the authenticity and integrity of the three Gospels 
of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the substantial identity of the Greek 
Gospel of Matthew with its primitive original, and the order of time 
in which they were written, it is lawful for exegetes, in order to explain 
the similarities or dissimilarities existing between them, to dispute freely 
about all the varying and opposing opinions of authors and to appeal 
to hypotheses of oral or written tradition or even to the dependence 
of one on the one or both that precede. 


Answer: Yes. 


2. The Two-Source Theory.—Whether what has been laid down above 
is to be considered as observed by those who, unsupported by any 
testimony of tradition or by any historical argument, lightly embrace 
the hypothesis commonly known as that of ‘‘the two sources,’’ which 
strives to explain the composition of the Greek Gospel of Matthew 
and the Gospel of Luke mainly by their dependence on the Gospel of 
Mark and on the so-called collection of ‘‘Sayings of the Lord’’; and 
can they, therefore, freely advocate it. 


Answer: No to both parts. 
June 26, 1912. 


XI 


On THE AUTHOR, TIME OF COMPOSITION, AND HISTORICAL CHARACTER 
oF ACTS 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Author—Whether, in view especially of the tradition of the 
universal Church going back to the earliest ecclesiastical writers, con- 


APPENDIX 493 


sidering the internal reasons furnished by the book of the Acts both 
in themselves and in their relation to the third Gospel, and particularly 
the mutual affinity and connection of the prologues of each (Luke I, 
1-4; Acts I, 1-2), it is to be held as certain that the volume entitled 
Acts of the Apostles has the Evangelist Luke for its author. 


Answer: Yes. 


2. Unity of Authorship—Whether it can be proved by critical 
reasons based on the language and style, on the method of narration, 
on the unity of scope and doctrine, that the book of the Acts of the 
Apostles is to be attributed to one sole author; and that, therefore, 
the opinion of recent writers, that Luke is not the sole author of the 
book, but that different authors of it must be admitted, is destitute 
of all foundation. 


Answer: Yes to both parts. 


3. The We-Sections.—Whether in particular, those well-known pas- 
sages in the Acts in which the use of the third person is discarded 
and the first person plural (Wir-Stiicke, we-sections) introduced, weaken 
the unity of composition and the authenticity; or whether these pas- 
sages, considered historically and philologically, must rather be said 
to confirm the unity of composition and the authenticity. 


Answer: No to the first, yes to the second question. 


4. Integrity and Time of Composition—Whether from the fact that 
the book itself, after barely mentioning the two years of the first 
Roman captivity of Paul, abruptly closes, it is lawful to infer that 
the author either wrote another volume, which has been lost, or intended 
to write one, and that the date of composition of the book can therefore 
be assigned to a time far later than this captivity; or whether it is 
rightly and properly to be held that Luke finished the book at the 
end of the first Roman captivity of the Apostle Paul. 


Answer: No to the first part, yes to the second. 


5. Historical Character—Whether, if we consider at once the fre- 
quent and easy relations which Luke undoubtedly had with the first 
and chief founders of the Church of Palestine as well as with Paul, 
Apostle of the Gentiles, to whom he was an assistant in his evangelical 
preaching and a companion in his journeys, Luke’s customary industry 
and diligence in examining witnesses and in seeing things for himself; 
and, finally, the evident and most remarkable agreement of the Acts of 
the Apostles with the Epistles of Paul and the more genuine historical 
records; it is to be held for certain that Luke had in his hands most 
trustworthy sources and that he used them accurately, honestly, and 
faithfully, so that complete historical authority may be claimed for him. 


Answer: Yes. 


6. Objections to Historical Character—Whether the difficulties com- 
monly alleged from the supernatural facts narrated by Luke; from his 


494 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


account of certain discourses which, being given summarily, are con- 
sidered as made up and adapted to circumstances; for certain passages 
which are at least apparently in conflict with profane or biblical history; 
and, finally, from certain narrations which seem to be in opposition with 
the author of the Acts himself or with other sacred writers; are of a 
kind to render doubtful or at least in some way to diminish the 
historical authority of the Acts. 


Answer: No. / 
June 12, 1913. 
XII 


ON THE AUTHENTICITY, INTEGRITY, AND TIME OF COMPOSITION OF THE 
PASTORAL EPISTLES 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Authentictty—Whether, having in view the tradition of the 
Church universally and firmly persevering from the beginning, as ancient 
ecclesiastical records testify in various ways, it is to be held for certain 
that the Epistles known as ‘‘Pastoral,’’ viz., the two to Timothy and 
the one to Titus, notwithstanding the efforts of certain heretics who 
have without cause eliminated them from the number of Pauline Epistles 
as being contrary to their own teachings, were written by the Apostle 
Paul himself and ever counted as genuine and canonical. 


Answer: Yes. 


2. The Compilation Theory—Whether the so-called ‘‘ fragmentary 
hypothesis,’’ advanced and set forth in various ways by certain recent 
critics who, without indeed any probable ground and actually fighting 
among themselves, contend that the Pastoral Epistles were made up 
at a later period from fragments of Epistles or from lost Pauline 
Epistles, and greatly added to, can create the slightest prejudice against 
the conspicuous and most firm testimony of tradition. 


Answer: No. 


3. Difficulttes—Whether the difficulties commonly advanced in vari- 
ous ways from the style and language of the author, from the errors, 
especially of the Gnostics, which are described as already current at 
the time, from the state of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which is sup- 
posed to be already in an evolved condition, and other such reasons 
to the contrary, in any way weaken the opinion which holds as ratified 
and certain the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles. 


Answer: No. 


4, Time of Composition—Whether, since not only from historical 
reasons and from ecclesiastical tradition in harmony with the testimony 
of the Eastern and Western Fathers, but also from the very indications 
easily furnished both by the abrupt conclusion of the book of the Acts 
and by the Pauline Epistles written at Rome, especially the second 

* to Timothy, the opinion as to the two Roman imprisonments of the 


APPENDIX 495 


Apostle Paul is to be held as certain, it can be safely affirmed that the 
Pastoral Epistles were written during the period between the liberation 
from the first imprisonment and the death of the Apostle. 


Answer: Yes. 


June 12, 1913. 
XITI 


ON THE AUTHOR AND THE MANNER AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF COMPOSITION 
OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 


The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Canoncity and Authenticity—Whether so much importance 
should be attached to the doubts concerning the inspiration and Pauline 
authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews—which, owing chiefly to its 
misuse by heretics, occupied the minds of some in the West—that when 
we take into account the abiding, uncontradicted, and unbroken testi- 
mony of the Eastern Fathers, with which since the fourth century the 
whole Western Church has been in perfect accord; considering also the 
decrees of the Supreme Pontiffs and of the Sacred Councils, especially 
that of Trent, and, finally, the continuous practice of the universal 
Church, we may hesitate in reckoning the Epistle with certainty not 
only among the canonical Epistles (for that has been defined to be 
of faith), but among the genuine Epistles of the Apostle Paul as well. 


Answer: No. 


2. Objections.—Whether the arguments generally advanced, drawn 
from the singular absence of St. Paul’s name and the omission of 
the regular introduction and greeting in the Epistle to the Hebrews; 
from the faultlessness of its Greek, its accuracy in phraseology, 
and polished style; from the way in which the Old Testament is quoted 
and argued from in it; or from some discrepancies which are alleged 
to exist between its teaching and that of the other Epistles of St. Paul, 
can in the least impair its Pauline authorship; or whether, on the 
other hand, the complete harmony of doctrine and principles, the sim- 
ilarity of the cautions and counsels, and the close correspondence in 
phrases and in the very words, proclaimed by some non-Catholics even, 
which are all discovered to exist between this and the other works of 
the Apostle of the Gentiles, do not rather go to prove beyond doubt 
this Pauline authorship. 


Answer: No to the first part, yes to the second. 


3. Writer—Whether the Apostle Paul must be accounted to have 
been the author of this letter, so that it must needs be asserted that 
he not only planned and composed it in its entirety under the inspiration 
of the Holy Ghost, but also put it in exactly the form in which it 
now stands. 


Answer: No, subject to further decision of the Church. 
June 24, 1914, 


496 HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE 


LV 
ON THE PAROUSIA OR THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 
The Biblical Commission answers the following questions: 


1. Inerrancy.—Whether to solve the difficulties which occur in the 
Epistles of St. Paul and of other Apostles, where the Parousia, 
as it is called, or the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is spoken 
of, it is permitted to the Catholic exegete to assert that the Apostles, 
although under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost they teach no error, 
nevertheless express their own human views, into which error or de- 
ception can enter. 


Answer: No. 


2. Harmony of the Apostle’s Teaching.—Whether, keeping before 
one’s eyes the genuine idea of the Apostolic Office and of St. Paul’s 
undoubted fidelity to the teaching of the Master; likewise, the Catholic 
dogma regarding the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures, whereby 
all that the sacred writer asserts, enunciates, suggests, must be held to 
be asserted, enunciated, suggested by the Holy Ghost; also, weighing 
the texts of the Apostle’s Epistles, considered in themselves, which are 
before all in harmony with the speech of the Lord Himself, it is meet 
to affirm that the Apostle Paul in his writings certainly said nothing 
which is not in perfect harmony with that ignorance of the time of 
the Parousia which Christ Himself proclaimed to be men’s portion. 


Answer: Yes. 


3. Traditional Interpretation.—Whether, attention being paid to the 
Greek phrase, juets of ¢Gvres of mepthermépevr, also the explanation of 
the Fathers being weighed, especially that of St. John Chrysostom,* 
who was highly versed both in his country’s language and in the 
Pauline Epistles, it is lawful to reject as far-fetched and destitute 
of solid foundation the interpretation traditional in the Catholic schools 
—also retained by the Reformers of the sixteenth century—which 
explains the words of St. Paul (1 Thess. IV, 15-17) without in any 
wise implying the affirmation of a Parousia so imminent that the 
Apostle added himself and his readers to those of the faithful who 
should survive to meet Christ. 


Answer: No. 
June 18, 1915. 


* To dé, ‘ Hyuets, od rept éavTod pynow: od yap 5h eueddev adrods péxpe Tijs 
dvaordcews pévery, NAA TOds migrov’s Aéyer, In 1 Thess,, hom. 7, 2, Migne, P. 
G., LXII, 436. 


APPENDIX 497 


XV 
NOTES TO THE OFFICIAL TEXT OF THE HoLy BIBLE 


In the Preface to the official text of the Holy Bible which is com- 
monly known as the Versio Vulgata, it is forbidden to print the varying 
readings of other versions of the Bible in the marginal notes. The 
Biblical Commission was asked whether such variant texts from other 
versions and various notes which are helpful to the students of the 
Scriptures, may be printed in the footnotes to the Latin text. The 
Commission answered that this may be done. 

November 17, 1921. 





Abdias, book of, 312 


IND 


Abraham, 20, 28, 57; history of, 37 


Abu-Gosch, 29 

Acearon, 21 

Achaz, King, 64 

Acta Pilati, 210 

Acts of the Apostles, 399 

Adama, 11 

Adonis, 62 

Adramelech, 63, 64 

Allia Capitolina, 22 

Agar, 37 

Aggeus, book of, 348 

Akra, 23 

Alcala Bible, 224 

Allah, 56 

Alloho, 56 

Altar of holocausts, 74; 
Temple, 84 

Altar of Incense, 77; 
Temple, 84 

Amalakites, 19 

Amalekites, 137 

Ammonites, 37, 42 

Amorites, 20 

Amos, book of, 309 

Amraphel, 272 

Amwas, 29 

Anaitis, 61 

Anamelech, 63, 64 

Anathoth, 28 

Animals, unclean, 131 

worship of, 65 

Antilibanus, 9 





in the 


in the 


EX 


Apis, 65 

Apocalypse, the, 444 

Apocryphal books, 208 

Aquilas of Sinope, 238 

Arimathea, 29 

Aristides, 362 

Ark of the Covenant, 39; descrip- 
tion of, 78 

Ark, in possession of Philistines, 
80 





in the Temple, 84 
on Mount Sion, 80 
Arnon, 9 

Asasel, 151 

Ascalon, 21 

Aschera, 61 
Ascherim, 61 
Ascheroth, 61 

Asdod, 21 

Aser, 22 

Asima, 65 

Assumptio Mosis, 443 
Assyrian deities, 63 
Assyrians, 38 
Astarte, 20, 61 
Asurbanipal, 55 
Atargateion, 63 
Atargatis, 63 
Augustus, 31 
Auranitis, 33 
Avvites, 19, 65 
Axhtoreth, 61 





Azotus, 21 


Antiochus Epiphanes, 23, 66; dese- 


crating the Temple, 86 
Antonia, 23, 24 
Anu, King, 63 
Aphrodite, 61 
Apion, the Sophist, 67 


499 


Baal, 20, 60, 62, 63 

Baal-azar, 65 

Baal-berith, Baal-peor, Baal-sebub, 
Baal-semes, 60 

Baaltis, 61 

Babylon, 38, 55, 57, 60 

Babylonians, 61 


500 


Babylonian deities, 63 
Banias, 33 

Banishment (Mosaic law), 138 
Baruch, book of, 326 
Basan, 32, 33 

Batanzxa, 33 

Beelzebub, see Baal-sebub 
Beersabe, 28 

Beitun, 28 

Bel, see Baal 

Bellarmine, Cardinal, 189 
Beltis, 61 

Benjamin, 21 

Bethania, 395 

Bethany, 27 

Bethdagon, 63 

Bethel, 28 

Bethlehem, situation of, 27 
Bethphage, 27 

Bethsaida, 32 

Bezetha, 24 

Biblical Commission, 481 sqq. 
Bilit, 61 

Blessings (Mosaic), 137 
Bonfrerius, 189 

Book of the Dead (Turin), 56 
of Wisdom, 355 
Books of Chronicles, 336 
of Kings, 334 

Brazen laver, 74 

Bread of proposition, 76 
unleavened, 148, 149 











Codex Alexandrinus, 230 
Amiatinus, 251 

Beze, 230 
Cantabrigiensis, 230 
—— Claramontanus, 206, 231 
— Fuldensis, 251 











Laudianus, 231 
Lewis, 245 
—— Matthei Dublinensis resc., 230 
— Parisiensis, 230 F 
—— Regius, 230 
— Rossanensis, 231 
—— NSinaiticus, 245 
Vaticanus, 229 
Cesarea, 30 
Philippi, 33 
Cahathites, 93 








INDEX 


Calendar, 139 

Callirrhoe, 33 

Calmet, Dom, 189 

Cana, 31 

Candlestick, golden, 75 
Canon, Alexandrian, 197 
Hebrew, 196 

of Holy Scripture, 195 et. seq. 
Palestine, 197 
Protestant opinions of, 207 
Canonization, 195 

Canticle of Canticles, 294 
Capharnaum, 32 
Cappadocia, 21 

Captivity, history of, 38, 39 
Carmel, see Mount Carmel 
Casa Sancta, 31 
Cassiodorus, 188 
Catacombs, 201 

Cedmonites, 20 

Cedron, 26 

Valley, 27 

Cenezites, 20 

Chaldean Genesis, 55 
Chalil, 136 

Cham, 5, 19 

Chamath, 65 

Chamez, 16 

Chamos, 63 

Chanaan, 6, 7, 28, 31, 37, 40 
Chanaanites, 7, 20 

deities of, 61 

worship of, 62 
Chaschen, 97 

Chattath, 112 

Chazozera, 136 

Cheth, 20 

Chev, 21 

Christ, birthplace of, 27 
crucified “ without the camp,” 


























113 

—— place of death of, 25 

spoken of by Josephus Fla- 
vius, 67 

Churam of Tyre, 82 

Circumcision, 127 et seq. 

Ceelosyria, 9 

Colosse, 423 

Commandments, Noachic, 130 

Commentaries, 470 





INDEX 


Complutensis, 224 

Confession of sins, in Old Testa- 
ment, 107 

Corinth, 415 

Council of Trent, 200, 253 

Creation, six days’ work, 260 

story of, 261 

Crete, 21 

Cubit, equivalent of, 69 

Curses (Mosaic), 137 

Cutha, 65 

Cyprus, 62 





Dagon, 62 

Damascus, 33 

Dan, 21 

Dancing, 136 

Daniel, book of, 330 

David, 23, 38, 80, 81 

Day of atonement, 150 

Dead, cultus of the, 117 

Dead Sea, 6, 10 

Death, defilement of, 121 

Decapolis, 33 

Decisions of the Biblical Commis- 
sion, 184 

Della Valle, 244 

Derketo, 62 

Deuterocanonical, 200 

Deuteronomium, 40, 260 

described and defended, 46 
et seq. 

Diatessaron, 210, 362 

Dibon, 33 

Didache, 210 

Divine origin of Holy Scripture, 
191 

Duim, 33 





Ebal, see Mount Ebal 
Ecclesiastes, book of, 297 
Eccelesiasticus, book of, 352 
- Edomites, 37 

Egypt, 37 
worship in, 65 
Egyptian deities, 65 
Egyptians, 20, 44 
El, 56 
El Ghor, 6 
Eliasib, 52 





AOI 


El Kuds, 22 

Elohim, 273 

Elohistice history, 40 

Elzevir, 232 

Emath, 65 

Emmaus, 29 

Enakites, 19 

Enecenia, feast of the, 86 

Eneyclica Providentissimus 
159 

Ephesus, 420 

Ephod, 97 

Ephraim, 21 

Era, Jewish, 141 

Erasmus of Rotterdam, 231 

Esau, 37 

Esdras, 38 

and Nehemias, books of, 338 

Esdrelon, 9, 22 

Esmun-Thammus, 65 

Esra, 54 

Essenes, 104 

Esther, book of, 340 

Eusebius of Caesarea, 188 

Excommunication (Mosaic 
138 

Exegetical bibliography, 473 

Exodus, 259 

Ezechias, 25 

Ezechiel, book of, 328 


Deus, 





law), 


Faith inherent in all nations, 57 
Fasting, 133 

Feast of Purim, 154 

of Rejoicing of the Law, 155 
of Tabernacles, 153 

of the Dedication of the Tem- 
ple, 155 

of Weeks, 149 

of Wood Carrying, 
Feasts of modern Jews, 1 
Flavius, see Josephus 
Food, laws concerning, 131 
Fragmentum Muratoru, 205 

















155 
dd 


Gad, 22 

Gadara, 33 

Galaad, 32 

Galatia, 418 

Galilee, 22; geography, 31 


502 


Garizim, see Mount Garizim 

Gath, 21 

Gaulonitis, 33 

Gaza, 21 

Gedeon, 46 

Gedeschim, 61 

Gedeschot, 61 

Gehenna, 27 

Gemara, 67, 68 

Genesareth, see Lake 

Genesis, 259 

Chaldean, 55 

Gerasa, 33 

Gergesites, 20 

Gersanites, 93 

Gethsemane, 27 

Gilead, 6, 32 

Girgas, 20 

Glosses, 469 

Golan, 33 

Golden candlestick, 75 

Golgotha, 24 

Gomorrha, 11 

Gospel of Marcion, 209 

of Nicodemus, 210 

of Peter, 209 

of Saint John, 391 

of Saint Luke, 383 

— of Saint Mark, 374 

of Saint Matthew, 365 

Gospels, evidence of authenticity of, 
359 

















objections refuted, 360 


Habakuk, book of, 320 
Hadrian, 22 

Hammurabi, 57, 272 
Haran, 37 

Harding, Stephen, 252 
Hauran, 33 

Heaving, ceremony of, 111 
Heber, 7 

Hebron, 9, 28 

Henoch, book of, 443 
Herakles, Tyrian, 61 
Hermeneutics, 449 et seq. 
Hermon, see Mount Hermon 
Herod I, 23, 31 

Herod Agrippa, 25 

Herod Antipas, 32, 33 


INDEX 


Herodians (sect), 105 

Herodotus, 20 

Herod’s Temple, 87 

Hesebon, 33 

Hesychius, 241 

Heta, 20 

Hethites, 20 

Hevites, 19, 21, 65 

Hexapla, 240, 244 

High priest, 96 

Hillel, 104, 243 

Hinnom, 63 

valley of, 64 

Hippus, 33 

Hiram, King, 81 

Hodeeporicon s. Willibaldi, 4 
Holocausts, 109 (see also Altar of) 
Holofernes, 344 

Holy of Holies, 78 

Holy Seripture, accommodation, 457 
apocryphal books of, 208 
— canon of, 195 
deuterocanonical books of, 200 
— editio recepta, 232 
Hebrew manuscripts 
printed editions of, 222 
inspiration of, 190 et seq. 
—— interpretation of, 449 et seq. 
— origin of, 190 

original text of, 212 et seq. 
polyglot bibles, 232 
protocanonical books, 200 
translations, 234 

Horites, 15 

Hugo a Santo Caro, 219 

Hyksos, 20 

Hyssop, 146 











and 














Iconoclasm (of Leo XIII), 59 

Ilu, 56 

Image worship, 59 

Inspiratian of Holy Scripture, 190 
et seq. 

Interpretation of Holy Scripture, 
449 

Isaac, 37 

Isagoge, 188 

Isaias, book of, 315 

Ismael, 37 

Israel, 7 


INDEX 503 


Israel, coins, 120 

cubit measure, 69 

holy persons in, 90 

measures for liquids, 118 
Monotheism and Polytheism, 





a 








priests in, 94 

religious institutions, 66 
Israelites, 21 

history of, 37 
Pay pt, 65 

— sects, 103 

worship of idols, 61, 62, 63 
Issachar, 22 

Istar, 61 

Itala, 247 

Itinera hierosol., 4 

Itinerarium Burdigalense, 4 
Iturea, 33 











Jabbok, 9 

Jacob, 21, 37 

Jaffa, 29 

Jealousy offerings, 119 

Jebus, 20, 22 

Jebusites, 20 

Jeremias, book of, 322 
Jericho, 28, 60 

Jeroboam, 53 

Jerusalem, destroyed, 38 
named Jebus, 20 
situation “Of, 22, 24°. 2% 
Jethur, 33 

Jewish sects, 103 

Jews, 38 

Job, book of, 298 

Joel, book of, 310 

John Hyreanus, 89 

John the Baptist, place of death, 33 
Joiada, 52 

Jonas, 29 

book of, 307 

Joppe, 29 

Jordan, 6, 10, 22 

Josaphat, see Valley 

Joseph, 21, 37 

Josephus Flavius, 22, 32, 33, 66, 67 
Josias, 47 

Josue, 21 

book of, 275 














Jubilee, year of (Mosaic), 145 
Juda, 21 

Juda Hakkadoseh, 67 

Judea, 22 

Judas Machabeeus, 63, 86 
Judges, book of, 277 

Judith, book of, 344 

Junilius, 188 

Juno, 61 

Justin Martyr, 361 


Kana-Kldschelil, 32 
Kana-Galil, 32 
Kanatha, 33 
Kaphtor, 21 
Kapporeth, 79 
Kariathiarim, 29 
Kefr-Kana, 32 
Kemosch, 42 

Ken, 75 

Kenites, 19 
Ketura, 37 

Kidron, 26 

Kijjim, 59 

King Anu, 63 
Kings of the Northern Kingdom, : 
of the Southern Kingdom, ¢ 
Kinnor, 136 

KKison, 9 

Kronos, 59, 64 
Kubeibeh, 29 
Kulonieh, 29 

Kutu, 65 


oo 9 
© 
ws Go 


po 
i 





Lais, 21 

Lake Genesareth, 10, 13, 22 

Lake Merom, 10 

Lamentations, book of, 325 

Langton, Stephen, 219 

Languages, biblical, 212 

Laws concerning food 
131 

Lebanon, see Mount Lebanon 

Legal defilement (Mosaic), 121 

Leprosy, 14 

uncleanness due to, 122 

Levi, 21 

tribe of, 90 

Levites, as judges, 93 

in charge of worship, 91 


(Mosaic), 











504 


Levites, Mosaic origin, 101 
purification of, 94, 99 
Leviticus, 259 

Lewis Codex, 245 

Liquid measures, see Israel 
Little Lebanon, 9 

Locusts, 14, 16 

Loreto, 31 

Lot, 3 / 

Lucian, 24] 

Ludd, 29 

Luna, 61 

Lydda, 29 





Macedonia, 417, 422 
Machabieus, see Judas M. 
Machabees, books of, 346 
Macherus, 33 

Madaba, 34 

Magdala, 32 

Majuscules, 228 
Malachias, book of, 350 
Malkom, 63 

Manasses, 21, 25, 54 
Marcion, 209 

Marduk, 60 

Marriage laws (Mosaic), 124 
Martini, Raimundus, 188 
Mary, Saint, 26 

Masora, the, 220, 225 
Masoretic text, 52 


Matthew, the apostle, 366 et seq. 


Measures, see Israel 
Meil, 97 
Melchisedech, 20 
Melito, 199 
Merarites, 93 
Merodak, 60 
Micheas, book of, 314 
Milkom, 42, 63 
Minuscules, 228 
Mishna, 67 

Moab, 38 

Moabites, 37, 42, 60 
Moloch, 27, 59, 63, 64 
Money in Israel, 120 
Monophysites, 246 
Months in Jewish eaiendar, 140 


\lopsuestia, Theodorus of, 188, 295 


Moria, 23 


INDEX 


Moses, 22, 37, 268, ete. 

Mount Carmel, 9, 22 

Mount Ebal, 9 

Mount Garizim, 9 

building of temple on, 52 
Mount Hermon, 9 

Mount Lebanon, 4, 6, 9 

cedars of, 81 

Mount Moria, 80 

Mount of Olives, 9, 26 

Mount Sinai, 37, 40, 62,. 69 
Mount Sion, 23 

Mount Thabor, 9 

Musie (in Mosaie worship), 134 
Musical instruments, 136 
Mylitta, 61 








Nablus, 30 
Nabuchodonosor, 344 
Nahum, book of, 318 

Naim, 31 

Nazareth (situation), 30 
Nazirites, 95, 116 

Neapolis, 30 

Nebahaz, 65 

Nebel, 136 

Nebiim, 199 

Nehemias, 25, 38 

Nephtali, 22 

Nergal, 65 

Nethinim, 93 

New Moons, festival of, 144 
Nibhaz, 65 

Nicholas of Lyra, 188 
Nicopolis, 29 

Noachic eommandments, 130 
Numbers, book of, 259 


Omri, 30 

Onesimus, 431 

Onkelos, 243 
Onomasticon, 4 

Ophel, 23 

Oriental reeords, 55 
Origen, 188, 199, 240, 244 
Orotal, 63 

Osee, book of, 313 


Palestine, geography of, 4 et seq. 
inhabitants of, 19 





INDEX 


Palimpsests, 229 

Paneas, 33 

Papias, 367 

Paralipomena, 336 
Paraphrases, 466 

Pasch, festival of the, 146 
time of, 140 

Paschal supper, 16 
Patriarchs, 37 

Paul of Tella, 242, 246 
Peace offerings, 110 

Peor, 60 

Pella, 33 

Pentateuch, criticism, 265 
defended, 42, 267 
description of, 259 
objections to, 272 
rationalistice criticism, 39, 40, 
50, 272 

Samaritan, 52 
Pentecost, festival of, 149 
time of, 140 

Pera, 6, 22, 33 
Peregrinatio s. Paule, 4 
Peregrinatio s. Silice Aquitane, 4 
Persians, 38 

Peshitto, 205, 245 
Pharisees (sect), 104 
Phegor, 60 

Pherezites, 19 

Philadelphia, 33 

Philemon, 431 

Philippi, 422 

Philistawa, cultus of, 63 
Philistine-land, 8 
Philistines, 19, 21 

Philo, 66, 73, 398 
Phoenicians, 20, 44 

Pilate, 24 

Plague, 14 

Poetry, Old Testament, 282 
Polyearp, 246 

Polyglot bibles, 232 
Polyglotta Complutensis, 231 
Prandium, 17 

Prayer, 134 

Priests, 94 

Priests’ Code, 40, 48, 49, 51, 55 
Priests, consecration of, 99 
duties of, 95, 99 


























JOD 


Priests, vestments of, 97 

Priesthood (Mosaie origin), 101 

Prophets, 48, 199, 304 et seq. 

Proselytes, reception of, 130 

Protocanonieal, 200 

Protoevangelium of Saint James, 
209 

Proverbs, book of, 291 

Psalter, the, 284 

Ptolemies, 38 

Purifications (Mosaic), 121 


Rabbath Ammon, 33 
Rama, 28 
Rameses II, 20 
Ramle, 29 
Raphaites, 19 
Raphana, 33 
Rationalist criticism, 39, 40, 50, 
Ole 145272 
Rechabites, 19 
Reformation, 253 
Roboam, 38 
Rome, 57, 412 
Ruben, 22 


Sabaism, 58 

Sabbath, 141 

Sacraments of the Old Covenant, 
112 

Sacrifices, bloody, 109 

drink offerings, 118 

——— fixed times for sin offerings, 
112 








for lepers, 116 
holocausts or burnt offerings, 





109 

jealousy offerings, 119 
meat offerings, 117 
nature of offerings, 106 
Nazirite, 116 

peace offerings, 110 
ritual of, 107 

sin offerings, 112 

the red cow, 115 
trespass offerings, 113 
unbloody, 117 
varieties of, 109 
Sadducees, 104 

Sadok, 104 


Peper ee 





506 


Saint Augustine, 188 

Saint Bartholomew, 32 
Saint Georgius, 29 

Saint James, epistle of, 434 
Saint Jerome, 188, 250 
Saint John, gospel of, 391 
the apostle, 392 
epistles of, 439 

Saint Jude, epistle of, 442 
Saint Luke, gospel of, 383 
Saint Mark, gospel of, 374 
Saint Mary, 26 

Saint Mary Magdalen, 32 
Saint Matthew, gospel of, 365 








Saint Paul, the apostle, 405 et seq. 





at Cesarea, 31 
epistles of, 411 
Saint Peter, 376 
epistles of, 436 
Salem, 22 

Salmeron, 189 
Samaria, 22, 38 
geography of, 30 
Samaritans, 52, 54 
Samuel, books of, 280 
Samum, 14 
Sanaballat, 52 

Sara, 37 

Sargon, 20 

Saron, 9 

Saturn, 64 

Saul, 38 

Schekina, 79 
Schemer, 30 
Schittim, wood of, 69 
Scholia, 467 
Schophar, 136 
Seribes, 103 
Seythopolis, 33 
Sebarim, 64 

Sebaste, 30 

Seboim, 11 

Segor, 11 

Seleucide, 38 
Semitic inhabitants, 19, 20 
Sepharvarim, 64 
Septuagint, 52, 235 
Seraphim, 59 
Serarius, 189 
Sesostris, 20 











INDEX 


Sexual uncleanness, 123 
Shammai, 104 
Shechem, see Sichem 
Shewbread, 77 

Sichem, 30 

Silo, 28 

Siloa, 27 

Simeon, 21 

Simon, Richard, 189 
Sin offerings, 112 

fixed times for, 112 
Sinai, see Mount Sinai 
Singing (Mosaic worship), 1: 
Sion, 2: 

Sirach, book of, 352 
Sistrum, 136 

Six days’ work in creation, 260 
Sixtus of Siena, 189 
Soceoth, 46 
Sochothbenoth, 64 

Sodom, 1] 

Solomon, 23, 38 

worship of idols, 61 
Somer, 30 

Sophonias, book of, 319 
Star worship, 58 
Stephanus, Robert, 232 
Strabo, 4 

Sullus, Raimundus, 188 
Sychar, 395 

Syllabus of Errors, 179 
Symmachus, 239 
Synagogues, 89 
Synedrium, 103 

Synoptic writers, 390 





— 
er 





Tabernacle, at Silo, 29 
deseription of, 69 

in the wilderness, 80 
Tachasch, 72 

Talmud, 54, 67 

Tammus, 62 

Targumim, 242 

Taschlich, 153 

Tatian’s Diatessaron, 210, 362 
Taxes, in Palestine, 18 
to the Temple, 119 
Tejazir, 30 

Tella, see Paul 

Temple, the, 23 











Temple, at Leontopolis, 89 





Epiphanes, 86 





—- Herod’s, 87 


—— idolatrous cultus in, 65 


—— officer of the, 93 
— on Garizim, 54, 89 
— on Mount Moria, 80 
—— Solomon’s, 80 

—— taxes, 119 

—— vestments, 97 

—— worship in, 141 
Zorobabel’s, 85 
Terach, 37 

Tetrapla, 241 

Thabor, see Mount Thabor 
hares 37 

Tharsis, 29 

Thartak, 65 

Theodotion, 241 
Theophilus of Antioch, 395 
Theopneustia, 192 
Thessalonica, 424 

Thirza, 30 

Thora, 39, 199, 236 
Thummim, 98 

Tiberias, 32 

Timothy, 427 

Titus, 429 

Tobias, book of, 342 
Trachona, 33 

Trachonitis, 33 





Translations of the Bible, 235 


Trespass offerings, 113 
Triclinia, 17 
Tubarich, 32 
Tychicus, 421 


desecrated by Antiochus 


destroyed and rebuilt, 3 
—— duties of the priests in the, 


INDEX 507 


Tyrian Herakles, 61 
Tyropeeon, 22 


Ugab, 136 

Uncials, 228 

Unclean animals, 131 
Uncleanness, due to death, 121 
due to leprosy, 122 
sexual, 122 

Dry Sai Aor 

Urim, 98 








Valley of Hinnom, 27 
of Josaphat, 26 
Mambre, 28 
Venus, 61 

Vespasian, 30 

Vows (Mosaic), 137 
Vulgate, the, 247 








Waving, ceremony of, 111 

Works to which reference has been 
made, 474 

Worship, in Temple, 141 

of animals, 65 

— of images, 59 

— of stars, 58 

—— on high places, 62 





Yahvist, 55 

Yahvistic history, 40 
Yahweh, 273 

Year, Sabbatical, 140, 144 


Zabulon, 22 

Zacharias, book of, 349 
Zaddikim, 104 
Zakmuku Zarbanit, 65 
Zarabanit, 65 
Zorobabel’s temple, 85 


Date Due 





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